


Truly, Madly, Deeply!

by baekbuns (mumz), ExoWeddingAU



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mention of other character, Romance, Slice of Life, implied kaisoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 04:19:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13426665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mumz/pseuds/baekbuns, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExoWeddingAU/pseuds/ExoWeddingAU
Summary: Now Baekhyun smiles at him and Chanyeol smiles back, bigger and wider, because for the first time in his life he’s come to realize what love truly is about.(In which Chanyeol's plans are flawless. Their executions, debatable.)





	Truly, Madly, Deeply!

**Author's Note:**

> ♡Invitation 76#♡Finally is done! I want to apologize to the prompter, as this might not be what you had in mind ^^ I do hope you don't mind the (huge) twists I made to the prompt and you can enjoy it despite them ;; Also, I want to give a huge thank you to my beta M! You helped a dying gal here, and I'm sorry you had to deal with my really crappy writing (lol)… 
> 
> And of course, thank you to the mods for all the extensions, the huuuuuge patience for putting up with my tardiness to, um pretty much everything ;; anyways, I hope y'all enjoy this and can have fun reading it!

_“You are the faint line,_

_Between faith and blindly waiting.”_

—RupiKaur

 

 

\---

 

 

 

“Toben, slow down!” Chanyeol hisses, cursing under his breath as the one year old Goldendoodle pays no mind to his warning.

 

He tries one more time to will the pup to behave, but it’s futile, his orders fall on deaf floppy ears. The hyperactive canine takes another quick sniff into the air before resuming his pursue, pulling on the leash clasped on his vest as he sprints forward and weaves playfully between a small group of sleepy Chinese passengers standing outside a _Lotte Duty Free_ shop.

 

The now confused tourists break apart at the sight of the distressed police agent, some chuckling and bowing politely in return as Chanyeol jogs through the group, mouth breaking in a toothy smile full of poorly concealed embarrassment while excusing himself in broken English. 

 

Once out of the small crowd, and with an exasperated glare thrown at his rebellious dog, the young handler realizes morosely how he had _just_ arrived to his early shift less than two hours ago and the day was already shaping up to be a bloody nightmare—more than usual, as Fridays are usually the busiest day of the week at Incheon’s International Airport, also known as ICN.

 

The massive structure, laid on an artificial piece of land between _Yeongjong_ and _Yongyu_ , is a true architectural feast to the eyes. It currently housed 76 boarding gates, an impressive duty-free shopping mall and multiple entertainment choices open for all national and international visitors.

 

With an outstanding reputation as one of the best transit airports in the world, there is no such thing as slow, or boring days on the job at the ICN. Everywhere you look, there is always something happening, a quick succession of endings and beginnings at every corner.

 

In Chanyeol’s work division, just like in every other job in the world, there are definitely good days, bad days, and very, _very_ bad days.

 

The good days are just days, in which the daily amount of responsibility demanded by the public from the Korean National Police, specifically their Airport branch, the Special Weapons and Tactics unit—the renowned KNP-SWAT—is a little easier to handle.

 

For special agent Park, dealing with suspicious, non-cooperating passengers, going through piles and piles of illegal contraband goods, or applying counterterrorism preventive measures to potential foreign threats, are part of his every day job as part of the elite squadron, and on those good ol’ easy days, he could even manage to enjoy the tiring workload.

 

Sad to say, there’s always an evil to every good, and with thousands of passengers and airport employees rushing around the world-renowned facility, it would be a miracle if things always went smoothly and according to plan.

 

And that’s where the bad days jump in.

 

Bad days—in which every little tiny thing that could potentially go wrong, simple goes, and Chanyeol finds himself just one second away from begging his Senior Inspector to deploy him back to his former Squadron in Seoul.

 

Days, just as bad as this one—where Chanyeol wonders what he might have done wrong to be receiving such a gutting punch from Karma so freaking early in the morning when the day hasn’t even really kicked yet.

 

Considering that, no matter what day, what week, or season, the hectic atmosphere of ICN’s main terminal always seem to reach a certain degree of stability on those dead hours prior to sunrise.

 

In those hours, a soft blanket of serenity falls upon the unsuspecting bystanders and Morpheus’s arms take the chance to wrap themselves around their tired consciousness, cradling their thoughts into his bosom, lulling them to rest.

 

Nothing serious ever happened on that short interval of time in which an unspoken agreement between chaos and peace offers the personnel a breather before the imposing installation burst to life at sunrise.

 

Chanyeol sees a backpacker snoozing beside a vending machine and quickly checks his wristwatch.

 

⌠02:08AM KST⌡

 

“Dammit, Toben…” He draws a long sigh out in defeat.

 

Being awake at the current hour for no apparent reason is far from acceptable in convectional human standards—or in Chanyeol’s standards for that matter.

 

It’s basic, day-to-day common sense, that 2AM is strictly reserved for the restless passengers trying to catch a wink of sleep, all curled up in the long cushioned rows of seats by their boarding gates.

 

It’s for the insomniacs quietly nursing a cup of coffee at the corner booth at _CafféBene_ , or for the workaholics at the _Heineken Bar_ drinking themselves to amnesia.

 

2AM is for the sleep-deprived handling agents clocking out of their shift and making space for the batch of freshly awoken airline employees prepared to receive the incoming influx of jittery passengers at the check-in counters, for the baggage handlers joking around to keep sleep in check, the air traffic controllers taking bathroom breaks, and for the security guards sharing doughnuts and lattes in between rounds.

 

But above all—and most importantly—2 am is _not_ the time for poorly trained puppies to be running around on wild-goose chases with their hopeless handlers in tow.

 

It must’ve been pretty bad, like capital sin type of bad, whatever Chanyeol had done to ruffle Karma’s feathers to this extent.

 

Because this is surely a new form of sadistic and cosmical punishment, running foolishly after the recently graduated sniffer dog—quite emphatically ignoring his calls at the moment—when he could be perfectly lazing around at the KNP’s main common area before the rest of his team clocked in.

 

But whose idea was it to use this momentary state of tranquility and human vacancy to stroll the trained pup around and get him acquaintance a tad faster to the ICN foreign premises and its myriad of olfactory stimuli?

 

That’s right. Park Chanyeol’s, the idiot at your service.

 

And the saying ‘You reap what you sow’ couldn’t be anymore accurate.

 

He’s pulled out of his thoughts the moment he’s lurched forward once again by the young canine. Toben seemingly picks out a new, stronger smell in the vicinity, much to the agent’s dismay, as his floppy ears suddenly perk up after a long sniff.

 

The pup now makes a sharp turn to his right, narrowly missing a garbage can as he renews his roundabout pursue in full throttle, this time towards the farthest boarding gates on the third floor.

 

They arrive in record time, and Chanyeol vehemently thanks God for the sudden silver lining as the surrounding departure lounges are practically desolated, just a few passengers scattered sparsely around the rows of seats, with the majority already soundlessly asleep and oblivious to the distressed SWAT agent following a very animated police dog around.

 

The public eye remains shut even to the officer’s red beret flying off his head after a hard tug from his rebellious partner and to the awkward giraffe jump he has to make in order to catch it mid air.

 

The disobedient pup suddenly yaps and slows down, tail wagging wildly as he happily approaches the wide entrance of the Employees Only area at the end of the long corridor.

 

“Toben…” Chanyeol addresses his rebelling dog with the hint of a warning in his baritone voice, but the dog is as stubborn as his handler, undeterred by feeble reprimands.

 

Reluctantly, yet partially curious by the odd behavior, Chanyeol follows the young pooch.

 

 

\---

 

 

The first thing that instantly draws Chanyeol’s attention in is the fact that the place is almost packed full with airport employees from different airlines.

 

The entire lounge is all high ceilings and marble floors, an open design bathed in shades of chestnut, light cream and onyx, with massive windows expanding from floor to ceiling, offering a clear view of the imposing ICN runway.

 

On his right, multiple seating areas are arranged in comfortable sociable clusters, with two long seating rows lined horizontally, seats facing in and out on both sides.

 

A very sophisticated dining area with low hanging bare bulb pendant lights and industrial-styled wooden furniture covers the entire far left corner of the room, with a couple of billiard tables at the front that instantly catch Chanyeol's eyes, along with a quaint refreshment station—and far too many other details to digest in such short amount of time.

 

He’s pulled out of his thoughts as a group of flight attendants laugh and share stories animatedly by the small buffet area at the far end of the lounge, filling tiny plates with toasty looking croissants and fresh pieces of Brie.

 

Another group, this time of Japanese first officers, is animatedly shouting as one of them holds a phone up for the other ones to see, eyes flickering left and right following the _intense_ ping pong match.

 

The rest of the employees are resting comfortably in the spacious seating accommodations, some reading, others taking naps, or simply talking in low hushed voices across the dinning tables.

 

The room is lively, boasting with laughter and chat. It’s the first time Chanyeol’s ever stepped a foot inside this area since his transfer from Seoul’s headquarters four months ago.

 

He can definitely see the appeal, finally understanding Jongdae’s whines of ‘why can’t we have a billiard table!’ and his continuous complaints towards their Senior Inspector over the choice of food in their own ‘lounge’ area— _We are airport employees too! I want a gourmet buffet area goddammit! With ridiculously tiny croissants and expensive cheeses!_

 

(Of course, Wu Yifan makes it perfectly clear to express, every time, what he thinks of his delirious demands whenever he appoints the cheeky bomb specialist and his Chinese subordinate—God have mercy on Zhang Yixing’s soul—to investigate the same ‘suspicious looking artifact’ alert located by the Lavatory drainage tanks.)

 

He suddenly recognizes Joonmyun among the sea of strangers, engaged in a pleasant conversation with some colleagues at the dinning area.

 

If Yifan’s husband is here, that means the Senior Inspector is here as well, and to Chanyeol that easily equates to _it’s time to scram before I get my ass in more troubles_.

 

He starts walking towards the friendly handling agent, deciding to drop a quick greeting as he catches the married man waving at him happily from across the room. Half the people in the room are throwing curious glances at his way by now, most likely wondering what could a SWAT agent be doing with a sniffer dog at 2 am in the morning in their lounge area.

 

 _That_ , Chanyeol wonders too.

 

But Toben clearly has other plans in mind, pulling the agent on the opposite direction, away from the dinning area and towards the end of one of the seating rows.

 

He offers a polite smile in response to the questioning stares of the flight attendants and pilots resting comfortably in the cushioned seats, trying to ease the growing weariness off the highly perceptive employees as he slowly walks between both rows.

 

Soon his canine partner seems to have finally found his target, pulling on his leash so hard that Chanyeol can only gasp as it burn through his fingers once it slips from his grip.

 

He watches, horror-stricken, as the pup bounces over stretched out legs and scattered handbags before he halts and sits in front of a coffee colored hardside carry-on roller right at the last seat of the row facing the window. 

 

Chanyeol sighs, rubbing his furrowed brow with his fingertips. He can slowly feel a headache building.

 

From the moment he joined the police academy, Toben had always been quite the hyperactive puppy, but never had he given Chanyeol or his trainer a hard time in regards of misconduct. No matter what, he had always finished his tasks and tests with an outstanding performance, so it was no surprise the current oddness in his behavior was throwing Chanyeol on a loop.

 

But once he acknowledges what his dog has been tracing so zealously, he tries to give his four-legged comrade a chance to redeem himself from his odd shenanigans, and with that, Chanyeol decides to give his energetic pup the benefit of the doubt.

 

The owner of the now classified as ‘suspicious’ luggage is halfway hidden behind a thick hardcover book, the only part visible of his side profile being his eyes, also partially concealed behind a fluffy looking black fringe and a pair of round, metal glasses.

 

The man is currently submerged in his reading of ‘How to succeed at World Domination.’—Chanyeol snorts—and completely oblivious to the police dog twitching excitedly beside his carry-on.

 

Toben, exasperated by his handler’s passiveness, barks and paws at the luggage, succeeding in dragging his owner closer and tearing the stranger from his intense reading.

 

The young employee gasps as he finally acknowledges the pup that has magically popped beside his suitcase, setting his book aside as he slowly turns sideways in interest. He finally reveals his face and Chanyeol is gifted a clear view of the most gorgeous man he has ever laid eyes on in his entire life. 

 

The alluring black haired male offers the young Goldendoodle an amiable greeting in the form of a smile as soft and as bright as a sunflower tilted towards the sun.

 

But it's only after a second, more detailed observation of the way those soft lips curve so beautifully and with such effortless finesse that Chanyeol quickly amends his previous analogy—he’s no sunflower, he’s the sun itself with a thousand sunflowers sprouting at his feet.

 

Now caught in the turmoil of his nonsensical thoughts, Chanyeol feels his own mouth rapidly drying the more he stares, tongue already raw like paper sand against his teeth. He’s swallowing stone after stone and his lungs feel as if they’re trying to squeeze their way out of his ribcage, starving for air.

 

 _Fuck._ He takes a deep breath, trying to calm his frenzied heart down.

 

_What is wrong with you Park??_

 

Officer Park is no stranger to pretty things. He’s had his fair share of ephemeral encounters with gorgeous people in the past, but something about this particular stranger just draws him in deeper and deeper. His beauty is just the tip of the iceberg, a lovely preview of a hidden paradise.

 

And as said man leans forward with his delicate, beautiful, gorgeous hand extended towards Toben, he feels like reaching out and stealing that hand for his own.

 

Chanyeol cheesily considers giving up being an officer and become a criminal instead, to whisk this gorgeous stranger up and rob his breath away as easily as he had robbed his at first sight.

 

But crestfallen, he realizes with remorse how his cheeky dog is now closer to that hand than his police partner will probably ever be in his plain, boring life.

 

Toben’s tail wags wildly then as he unconsciously leans towards the hand, ready and eager to be petted, and Chanyeol’s eyes narrow with seething— and utterly idiotic—jealousy. _That cute traitor!_ \--

 

_Wait a second…_

_Pretty hand…_

_Toben plus that pretty hand…_

_oh, crap!_

 

“Wait!” Chanyeol shouts, flinching as he draws half the room’s attention towards them with his sudden loud outburst. He quickly bows as an apology to a few startled employees before he hurriedly covers the last few meters between them.

 

The pretty black haired man gasps at the sight of the tall SWAT agent before him, droopy eyes blown wide in surprise and poorly concealed fright.

 

“Sorry, police dogs can’t be petted while on duty.”

 

Chanyeol quietly points at Toben’s black ballistic vest, specifically the ‘No Petting’ sign in white bolded lettering next to the KNP-SWAT Insignia. 

 

The gorgeous stranger slowly nods, still caught in surprise for a few more seconds before his pretty eyes blink and his long fingers curl, hand retracting swiftly.

 

Toben lets out a pitiful yowl in return, earning a chuckle from the friendly stranger and a half-hearted glare from his handler.

 

“Aw, I’m sorry cutie,” The man coos, seemingly apologetic towards the pup. “I don’t wanna get you in trouble.”

 

Toben’s floppy ears flatten against his skull as he whines once more, before he paws at the suitcase twice, redirecting the attention of his human partner back to his target.

 

 _Right, the suitcase._ Come on Park, _keep it cool._

 

Chanyeol clears his throat, standing up straight while fixing his expression from dumbly dazed to professionally suave, adding a court dimpled smile that he hopes looks less smitten and more like ‘I’m a very capable agent that is now totally not freaking out over probably one of the sweetest voices I’ve ever heard in my sad and pathetic single life!’

 

“Anyhow.” The officer steps forward and grasps the elusive leash back. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but I would have to check my sniffer dog’s alarm sign.”

 

Chanyeol looks down at his four-legged partner and with a soft tug, he wins his attention back, commanding the trained dog to action— _Toben, such!_ —and the pup quickly springs up, wiggling his tail as he sniffs around the surrounding air before he follows a scent that leads him once more to the suitcase.

 

The caramel brown Goldendoodle takes one last, long sniff, nostrils flared as he noses around the front of the baggage, before his wet nose finally stops in the middle, squished comically against the hardshell material of the carry-on.

 

Chanyeol has to suppress a laugh at the pup’s silly face. “Good job Toben, _sitz_.”

 

The canine draws back and promptly takes a seat beside his handler, panting in excitement as his tongue lolls out and small dollops of saliva dribble from his snout.

 

“It seems that my sniffer dog has smelled something unusual inside your carry-on.” Chanyeol looks at the curious man, pointing casually towards his luggage. “So I’m going to kindly ask for your cooperation and allow me to take a look at the contents of your baggage Sir.”

 

“Oh?”

 

A cute wrinkle makes an appearance between his eyebrows. He’s clearly confused by the turn of events, and the soft purse of his thin, pink lips with the faint trace of a pout has Chanyeol biting the inside of his cheek to keep from squealing in delight.

 

“Erm, okay, yeah sure.” Chanyeol quietly thanks him as the latter promptly stands and tugs the carry-on up and over an empty seat. By now, almost all the employees crowding the lounge are fixated on them, curious eyes stealing glances at the high security staff and the unsuspicious looking airline employee.

 

The stranger promptly leans down and proceeds to unlock his baggage, the back of his head now exposed for Chanyeol to notice the soft red tint adorning the tip of his ears.

 

Despite the redness adorning parts of his skin, his face is serene as he draws back to pocket his small travelling padlock inside his dark gray slacks once the carry-on’s contents are in display.

 

Still, there’s a subtle twitch in his body as he moves aside to make room for Chanyeol to step in, making it pretty obvious how inwardly embarrassed he is by the unwanted attention.

 

“It’ll be over fast, I promise.” Chanyeol finds himself blurting, trying to calm the man’s nerves for reasons he has yet to understand. “It’s just standard procedure.”

 

He can see from the corner of his eyes that a few employees had overheard the small exchange, some visually relaxing after knowing nothing too serious is going on for them to be on their guard.

 

The mild chatter resumes in the lounge, and as the stranger nods in understanding, Chanyeol still feels unexpectedly apologetic towards him for the imposed inconveniences. 

 

“It’s okay, I don’t mind. It’s your job, so it can’t be helped.” The gorgeous man replies, soft and low-toned, before he looks him straight in the eye and offers a broad, mischievous smile. “Who knows? Maybe I am a threat to National Security.”

 

Part of Chanyeol is relieved that he’s taking this so heartedly—from experience, he knows not everyone buzzes with excitement at the prospect of being singled out and publicly scrutinized—and another part of him feels completely attacked.

 

Like _fucking wow! Where did that slyness come from??_ kind of attack at the sight of that blinding smile.

 

“R-Right, exactly. Can never be too sure with these, um things.” He coughs loudly. “If you’ll excuse me then…”

 

As infatuated as he currently feels, Chanyeol still knows when to draw the line between personal and work related affairs, so he pushes his infatuation aside and pulls a pair of blue latex gloves from one of his multiple belt pockets.

 

“Okay then, let’s proceed.”

 

 

\---

 

 

In retrospective, Chanyeol should’ve realized something was definitely wrong the moment Toben had started literally shaking once starter sifting through the stranger’s belongings.

 

At first, nothing out of the ordinary can be found between the few articles of clothes and personal toiletries. Everything looks neat, folded and well-kept, all hygiene items safely stored in Ziploc bags and—

 

 _Oh, shit, wrong pocket haha!_ Chanyeol blushes scarlet red as he hastily zips the inner compartment close, trying not to think too much over the pair of suggestively small, dark underwear he caught a glimpse of.

 

 _Park Chanyeol is not a creep; he’s a man of noble virtues!_ His subconscious chants the mantra non-stop.

 

Accosted by his troubled thoughts, his hands continue working on autopilot, but as expected, he finds nothing illicit or life-threatening—he sighs in relief for reasons he can’t comprehend—and he’s about to bring his fruitless raid to a close with an apology ready at the tip of his tongue, when his hand unexpectedly brushes over something long and hard hidden under a pair of black slacks.

 

Chanyeol’s mind suddenly goes haywire, almond shaped eyes blown wide as his gloved fingers graze the foreign object underneath.

 

It feels sturdy to the touch, probably 9 inches long, with a rugged surface. It ends on a blunt tip, and as he slides his hand forward towards the opposite edge, Chanyeol swallows, hard, as he feels the tip widen and morph into two small, rounded--

 

“S-Sir, are you carrying any…” Chanyeol gulps, voice rising to higher frequencies. “… _toys?_ ”

 

“Toys?” The cute man blinks. “Like, children toys?”

 

“Ah, not precisely.” Chanyeol laughs rather awkwardly. His face burns bright and red as the stranger sends him a questioning glance. “I meant other type of toys… you know? The ones geared for, uh, older audiences?”

 

“…like Monopoly?”

 

The officer shakes his head and sighs in resignation. He wanted to spare the cute guy the mortifying embarrassment, but his intentions backfired badly and in the end he not only confused the poor guy even more with his weird ass questions, but he also made himself look like a total idiot.

 

Chanyeol still offers a tiny smile, grasping the hidden object with dread. “Never mind, let’s just take a look.”

 

Frankly speaking, he knows he’s most likely being paranoid—and very, very dirty minded—but what else could it be? There was no mistake.

 

He does not own one precisely, but he knows what they look like and the current artifact in his hands fits all the traits of a long, hefty--

 

 _Don’t even think it Park!_ He closes his eyes, conflicted by his mental chastising.

 

“Officer _Park?_ ” The man ventures after reading his police ID with uncertainty. “I don’t underst--”

 

The reply is cut short and the incomplete sentence echoes in the air, the soft murmur of the room now white noise at the back of his head.

 

Chanyeol can only stare blankly at the object in his hand, now revealed to the public eye, unable to react as the stranger gasps beside him.

 

His gloved hand flexes unconsciously around the object as a low whine breaks his trance, only to notice how Toben is no longer sitting on his haunches but standing restless by his feet.

 

 _This isn’t happening._ Chanyeol inwardly groans in remorse and embarrassment. 

 

Why didn’t he stay in the office! He could’ve easily ignored Toben’s whines and yaps while chewing on his leash. It would’ve been a wise decision to simply overpass his pup’s pleas in favor of getting a head start on those damn reports piling up on his workstation.

 

He could be drinking crappy instant coffee, napping, eating all of Jongdae’s chocolate bars ‘hidden’ in the cupboards of their small kitchenette, or feeding ‘Yeollie’—his gorgeous Sims parrot.

 

Chanyeol could be doing _anything!_ But standing in the ICN’s ‘Employees Only’ Lounge room at 2 in the goddamn morning holding a whole d--

 

“A dog bone.” A blond flight attendant snorts from a few seats away, his eyes rolling in annoyance before they drift back to his phone. “Really Byun? And here I was, almost shitting my pants thinking we were gonna be all infested with some weird ass, mind-controlling, brain-eating biological weapon or something.”

 

“I don’t even know how that got there to be honest.” Crossing his arms over his chest, the stranger, now addressed as ‘Byun’, tilts his head sideways while staring at the chewable toy in the officer’s hand. “Also, brain-controlling? Really now? Geez, time to lay off the psy-fi Kim.”

 

“Fuck off!” _It could happen!…_ the blond huffs under his breath, cheeks tinted bright pink as he fully goes back to his phone, giving both men the cold shoulder.

 

A few employees chuckle at the sight of the humorous finding, going back to their previous activities as tension finally seeps away through the ventilation system.

 

The now exhausted officer gives one last withering look at the used puppy toy, spotting one side of it already voraciously munched and chewed off— _so ‘that’ was the blunt tip…_ Chanyeol sighs—before his eyes shift towards Toben’s sparkling ones staring up in sheer wonder and obvious want.

 

His canine partner is completely enthralled by the mouthwatering prize in his hand—it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out—making it really hard for Chanyeol to stay angry at his one-track minded puppy.

 

“Toben Park.” Chanyeol lifts an eyebrow. Toben perks a floppy ear. “Did you really drag me around the entire terminal for a used chewing toy? When you already have a bunch at home?”

 

The cute pooch whines pitifully and lowers his entire body down on the floor, eyes full of guilt.

 

“You’re so spoiled.” Chanyeol tut-tuts and kneels down, softly petting the distressed pup’s head with a smile full of fond exasperation.

 

“Hey, don’t go all cute on me now.” He jokes as he scratches behind one fluffy ear, biting back a laugh as his dog hides his snout under his paws. “You’re still in big trouble, mister.”

 

“He must’ve caught the scent of my brother’s puppy.” A saccharine voice suggests, bringing Chanyeol back to his surroundings. He notices that the attractive airport employee had been quietly observing the tender scene all along, making him feel bashful at being caught in such moment of weakness.

 

“That…does seem like a good possibility.” Chanyeol concedes, standing up after one final pat at Toben’s curly brown head.

 

“He’s a corgi puppy. My brother brings him to work all the time and spoils him rotten whenever he can, so that pup is used to leaving his toys everywhere he goes.” He rolls his eyes in good nature before they shift into lovely waning moons as he snickers. “Wouldn’t be surprised if he hid that toy in there to trick me into playing with him.”

 

“Sounds like something Toben would do at home too.” Chanyeol chuckles back, shaking his head as the mentioned ruffian cutely cocks his head to the side at the sound of his name. “Anyways, I’m really sorry for the inconvenience. Toben has just graduated from the Police Academy as a sniffer dog, so he’s still pretty new to the work environment.”

 

“Please, don’t apologize.” The man refutes with a sincere smile. “I-… honestly, I didn’t mind. It’s not like I get searched by hunky policemen on a daily basis.”

 

Chanyeol’s eyes widen in disbelief, blood rapidly surging underneath his face as his mind-to-mouth connection refuses to reconnect and cooperate.

 

The mischievous stranger simply grins at his dumbstruck face before turning around to arrange his belongings, seemingly oblivious to the officer currently battling an aneurysm.

 

 _W-was he... just... flat out wooed!?_ Chanyeol splutters internally.

 

He takes a few quiet breaths to steady his galloping heart before he realizes he’s still holding that damned treat that had initiated this entire fiasco—he’s too soft to pin the entire fault on his bumbling comrade.

 

“Here, you can have this back now.” Chanyeol hands the bone toy back to the smaller man once the latter turns around. Liquid hazel orbs peer down at his hand and a long sigh escapes through a pair of rosy lips as a sign of unwanted recognition.

 

“Ah, yeah, how can I forget such-” His nose wrinkles in distaste as he spots the faint traces of dried drool on the chewed side of the toy. “ _Delicacy_.”

 

Chanyeol laughs unreserved at the sight of the man’s poorly disguised annoyance, with the irrational urge to brush off that pretty wrinkle on top of that button nose prickling under the calloused pad of his fingertips.

 

The stranger reaches for the toy but halts a few millimeters short, something like wariness clouding his bottomless pools of champagne and gold.

 

He seems to carefully assess the situation, silent and calculative for what might have been hours disguised as fleeting seconds before his mouth breaks beautifully into a smile all the while he beams at the unsuspecting officer.

 

“You know what? I think you should keep it.” His eyes flicker between the toy and the attentive sniffer dog one step away of drowning in his own pool of drool. “Most likely my brother’s puppy has already forgotten about it by now, and I think there’s someone else that wants it more than any other puppy at this moment.”

 

“Hmm, I don’t know about that.” Chanyeol stares impassive at his twitching partner. “This guy right here is getting too spoiled nowadays for his own good.”

 

As if called for telepathically, Toben springs up with a yawp and stomps on his two front paws with renewed energy, thick ropes of saliva wobbling with the movement.

 

Chanyeol flickers the toy unconsciously to the side and it spurs the pup further, tail wagging out of control as his dribbling snout opens up to let another happy bark out to his handler.

 

“Someone’s excited.” The attractive glass-eyed male chuckles, and the gangly officer rolls his eyes at the frenetic pooch between them.

 

“Toben, we’re not playing right now, okay?” Chanyeol watches in amusement as his sniffer dog lets out another bark full of playfulness, easily equating the surrounding light hearted atmosphere, together with his owner’s firm grip on the toy, as an open invitation for play, play, playtime!

 

His movements are so jerky and full of excitement that its not long before more drool starts pooling and dribbling off his under jaw, wobbly strings dancing wildly back and forth and narrowly missing both men’s pants.

 

By now they’ve managed to once more gather some unwanted onlookers, a few not-so-discreetly holding their phones up to film the ‘cutest puppy with the floppy ear’ as one stewardess had cooed from behind the seats at the beginning of Toben’s silly antics.

 

Again, Chanyeol feels melting in embarrassment at the attention and his sniffer’s obvious lack of obedience, wanting nothing more but to disappear and not make a fool of himself any longer in front of the very, very attractive guy, who is currently watching the scene with unconcealed amusement.

 

Toben suddenly turns his head sideways and Chanyeol finally notices an ominous entity dangling in close vicinity to his clothes.

 

“Toben, boy, slow dow--” But the puppy’s selective deafness makes a comeback and too late Chanyeol reacts— _Toben, bleib!_ —before the thickest, heaviest glob of drool slobbers all over the handsome guy’s gray slacks.

 

“Oh, fuuu—I’m so sorry! Wow, that’s one fat string of drool!” Chanyeol winces at the stain, frantically searching in one of his vest pockets before he offers a clean tissue to the stranger.  “I’m terribly sorry, he’s usually not this energetic, I don’t know why he’s like this right now. Are you sure your brother’s corgi didn’t smuggle some dog weed inside of this or something? This thing is turning out to be quite dangerous.”

 

“Pretty sure. Unless my brother’s pup is working part-time as a drug lord.” The raven-haired male guffaws, nimble fingers plucking the offered tissue off his shaking hand.

 

Once more he waves Chanyeol’s apologizes off, easing his distress with a sunny smile full of honesty. Toben eventually settles down once the toy is in his still drooling snout, happily tearing the chewy bone to pieces at the feet of his flustered owner.

 

And while ‘Byun’ swiftly bends over to wipe off the stain from his ruined trousers, Chanyeol casually notices—or at least he hopes it’s casual and not openly creepy—his working attire belonging to that of Korea Air’s cabin crew.

 

Sadly, no ID badge or nametag is visible, but from his gray slacks, pristine white long sleeved button down and his gorgeous, well-kept appearance overall—despite the foreboding hour—Chanyeol can pretty much guess what the man’s job in said airline is.

 

And with that in mind, he starts mulling over which type of flights the attractive flight attendant must cater in. A better glimpse of his eyes is briefly given by the subtle slide of his glasses as he bends a little further, and the soft patch of skin underneath them looks faintly bruised, most likely due to long working schedules.

 

 _He must be working on a mixed schedule: International and home flights._ Chanyeol guesses.

 

Like an idiot, he finds himself daydreaming on the spot what it would be like to be attended and served by such a gorgeous guy.

 

 _Can I get you anything else, Sir? More champagne?_ The flight attendant in his fantasy walks down the aisle and leans over his seat, showcasing the uncorked bottle with a teasing tilt in his smile.

 

 _Yes, please, more champagne would be lovely._ Dream Chanyeol smiles back, lifting his empty flute as he obnoxiously winks at the pretty little thing. _And if you could add a serving of yourself as well, then that would be ten times lovelier._

 

Dream Chanyeol is an ass… that sadly gets _more_ ass than real Chanyeol ever will.

 

His daydream paradise’s bubble snaps with a loud _pop!_ As soon as he’s jostled awake by Toben’s rough tug. The pup is back on his feet, this time yapping playfully as the stranger hisses while staring at his phone.

 

“Shoot! Shoot, shoot, shoot.” The man groans under his breath and Chanyeol’s stupid reflexes react to the command, fingers unconsciously inching towards his holster. 

 

 _Idiot_ , he self-mocks and visibly relaxes at the sight of the cute fumbling steward pocketing his phone in a hasty manner.

 

“Soo’sgonna kill me.” The flight attendant sobs tearless as he shoves his book inside the carry-on’s front pocket before pulling up the handle.

 

Two steps forward and he stops dead in his tracks once he perceives the impossibly handsome police officer and his ridiculously cute sniffer dog still standing within arm’s length.

 

Big round eyes the color of hot cocoa, sprinkled with tiny flecks of gold like mini marshmallows, follow his every move with intense curiosity, and two hearts skip a beat at once.

 

“I… um, I gotta go.” Bunny teeth dig into a pink full bottom lip. “Thank you for your hard work officer. Have a good day.”

 

 

“No need to thank me, it’s my pleasure. Ah! Not pleasure _pleasure_ , but you know, pleasure of doing _you_ duty. Wait! No—that—that sounds really wrong, doesn’t it. Haha, sorry.” Chanyeol’s brain gasps its last breath before it shrivels into a piece of coal. “H-Have a wonderful day too.”

 

Unfazed by his stupid prattle, the beautiful stranger nods and gives a light bow in return before he turns around and flees out of the room and out of Chanyeol’s life.

 

 _Take care officer Park._.. his eyes seem to whisper, and the faint trace of a smile painted like a ray of sunshine over his face engraves itself in Chanyeol’s heart without consent. 

 

“Wow.” He whispers after a couple of minutes in silence, lungs finally free to breathe in and unwind, and despite his heart bursting out the seams, there’s a small smile lingering in Chanyeol’s chapped lips.

 

The surrounding voices are still white noise in the background as he keeps a firm hold on the memory of those eyes blooming with stars and that rosebud mouth.

 

_If only…_

 

If only Chanyeol wasn’t such an absolute idiot and had actually asked the guy his full name.

 

 

\----

 

 

Park Chanyeol wouldn’t say he’s an idiot.

 

“Guys... I’m an idiot.”

 

… _that_ often.

 

“We know Chanyeol, so fucking shut _up_ about it already.”

 

… but that’s _exactly_ what he’s been saying for the past week.

 

Because truth be told, he’s always been an idiot—sure, a skilled one with good reflexes and excellent gun expertise, but a dunce nonetheless. And for the first time in his life, he feels downright fed up by his boneheaded nature.

 

A week has passed since his disastrous practice patrol with Toben and the fated encounter with the beautiful Korea Air employee that left his pulse fluttering and his brain gone haywire in the days to come.

 

As of now, Chanyeol’s self-crowned himself as the King of all morons, gaining the gracious title for not only managing to bury himself ten feet underground in a pile of mortification—in record time—but for also forgetting to do something so basic as to ask the most delightfully exquisite guy he’s ever met in his life for his _name._

 

When he had become conscious of his dumb mistake, it was already too late, because no matter how fast he had jogged out of that lounge in search of the pretty flight attendant, the latter had completely vanished out of those vacant ICN grounds in a matter of seconds.

 

Like smoke, elusive and ungraspable, he had escaped Chanyeol’s fingers that early Friday morning, and after one week of casual questioning around, low-key falling into stalking mode at some point, the whereabouts of his infatuation remain a mystery up until this day.

 

No one seems to have a clue who the mysterious man—with the pretty hands and sunflower smile, as he oh so eloquently described him, much to the interviewee’s disbelief—really is.

 

(Or if he was even real to begin as some employees eyed the twitchy officer suspiciously.)

 

Chanyeol groans, ruffling his curly brown locks in frustration. Apart from his unsuccessful hunt, Toben had caught a really bad cold that weekend—landing him a very unwanted stay at the local vet hospital—his heater broke down in the middle of a snowstorm two days ago and his leather wristwatch that had been a gift from his belated grandpa had stopped at 2:15 since last Friday.

 

All in all, the entire week has been nothing short of a nightmare. Too many things going wrong at once and there’s so much Chanyeol can take before he’s smothered face down in his own exhaustion. There’s a heavy frown deeply set between his brows, and he doesn’t need a mirror to acknowledge the presence of those swollen bruises under his eyes.

 

Friday rolls around yet again, and the only thing Chanyeol looks forward to is to pick up Toben from the vet, cook his puppy a dog-friendly homemade meal, watch that George A. Romero marathon he’d been keeping an eye on since Wednesday and primarily, to forget this week ever existed. 

 

“Tough night?”

 

Chanyeol sighs as he gratefully accepts the offered cup of coffee from his colleague passing by his desk. “More like tough week.”

 

“How’s Toben doing?”

 

“Much better.” Chanyeol takes a small sip of his coffee, eyes closing contently as the delicious taste of mocha and cinnamon takes over his taste buds. “I can finally take him home today. That’s the only thing keeping me motivated today.”

 

The corners of Yixing’s lips rise despite the apologetic glint that reflects from his eyes. It’s been hard not only for Chanyeol, but for the rest of the team as well. A last minute request for a surprise inspection had been dropped on their Senior Inspector’s desk first thing on Monday, giving Yifan an instant migraine—and an unquenchable thirst for vengeance and death.

 

“Its Friday Yeol, final day of inspections.” Yixing beams, patting his shoulder in comfort before he walks back towards his working station at the opposite end of the open-plan office. “We’ll make it through, hang in there.”

 

Chanyeol’s words of gratitude die at the tip of his tongue the moment a loud bang slices through the air and a very disgruntled Kim Jongdae barges into the office looking like a madman followed by two snickering agents.

 

“Argh! I’m gonna gut Kim Ryeowook out! That cunning little _shit_!” The bomb specialist whines as he marches towards the couch at the back of the room, making a show of punching one of the cushions before he unceremoniously slumps down.

 

“Should I dare ask?” Jongin mumbles, quietly working away in his corner without sparing a second glance towards the distraught man.

 

Chanyeol and Yixing groan out loud in perfect synchronization as their young colleague vocally opens the Pandora Box.

 

“That skinny rat made his troop clock in an hour earlier so he could snatch Air China from us!” The short ball of fury bellows in rage. “Now we only have Korea Air, All Nipponi Airways and Vanilla Airlines. _Vanilla_ Airlines, man, are you fucking kidding!? What kind of half-assed name is that anyways.”

 

Chanyeol cocks an eyebrow. “And you’re mad…?”

 

“I could literally shit fire right now.”

 

Yixing blanches while Jongin subtly grimaces in distaste. Sadly, Chanyeol’s already used to Jongdae’s crude wording after years of continuous exposure, so his facial expressions remain unperturbed as he takes another sip of his lukewarm coffee—he’s definitely heard worse.

 

“Really, Dae? I mean, that actually means less work for us.” Jongin gives the brunet a dirty look as he whines once more, this time stomping his feet childishly like an overgrown brat.

 

“I know! But…I was really, really, _really_ looking forward to seeing Minseok today!”

 

“You always _‘_ really, really _, really’_ want to see Minseok…” Yixing mutters accusingly.

 

Jongdae stands up with a flourish, pointing a finger gun towards his subordinate with a cheeky grin curling his lips. “That, my young grasshopper, is true. But today specially, I wanted to see my beautiful Chinese flower’s face when he received my gift.”

 

A unanimous sense of empathy towards the long-term recipient of Jongdae’s eccentric affection falls upon the room immediately.

 

Chanyeol closes his eyes briefly and lifts a silent prayer towards the poor Chinese flight attendant. 

 

“What did you get him this time? Please tell me it wasn’t something weird again like that hair removal cream you gave him for his last birthday.”

 

Everyone shudders at the memory.

 

“For your information _Park_ , that was a very thoughtful gift from my part.” Jongdae huffs, absurdly affronted. “I so happened to, um, overhear him talking about his upcoming vacation trip to Jeju Island and how much of a butt pain it was to wax off certain areas of his baby smooth skin, so forgive me for wanting to spare my sexy _baobei_ the troublesome torture.”

 

“Can’t even decide at this point what’s creepier, you high-key stalking Minseok, your awful use of Chinese endearments, or you giving the guy you’re crushing on a hair removal cream as a birthday present—You know what? Why choose one, when we can pick them all.”

 

Jongdae scoffs, waving his hand dismissively as he walks around the open spaced unit towards their small, detached break room. “If you must know, I didn’t see any hairy patches of skin on his Instagram posts from the trip, so you can keep on blowing salty dicks, cause y’all know he made good use of my gift, and he probably thought of me while at it.”

 

He steps out the office after that, making his Chinese subordinate shake his head in half hearted exasperation while Chanyeol snorts at his best friend’s ridiculous reasoning.

 

Jongin’s soft typing fills the silence for the minutes that follow as the office slowly fills with more swat members in various states of alertness.  He greets a few officers sleepily munching their cheap, take out breakfasts as others bark in laughter at the sight of a passed out Seo Yeongho drooling all over his unfinished field reports.

 

“Johnny! Wake up! Ten’s eating your lunch again!”

 

The innocent fool springs up disoriented—half his face glistening with drool, to his teammates’ amusement and disgust—blinking sleepily as his brain adjusts to his surroundings before his coal black eyes narrow and instantly glower at the young officer sitting and chatting casually with other agents a couple of desks away, oblivious to his unjustified culpability.

 

“My mom cooked that for me, you bastard!” Johnny slurs out to a confused Ten before a drunken war cry has part of the room sobbing in laughter as the younger ones of their squadron engage in an intense hair pulling fight.

 

(A fight that ends just as fast as it begins with the resounding slap of their team leader Lee Taeyong’s hand on the back of their heads.)

 

The room is almost packed full by the time Senior Inspector Wu strides in, exactly thirty minutes late. Every surrounding surface available is soon occupied as the entire KNP-SWAT work force shows up for the final run-through of their schedule.

 

“Good morning guys. I apologize for my tardiness, the meeting with ICN’s representatives ran a little bit longer than expected.” Yifan begins, handing Zitao, his personal assistant, their work journal for the latter to start jotting down notes. “As you may know by now, today is our final day of inspections, and for that I want to offer you a round of applause for all the hard effort each and every unit has put throughout this week.” 

 

A lopsided smile cracks his normally stoic demeanor once the room bursts in buoyant cheers and whistles, with a rain of applause enveloping the atmosphere in a warm sense of satisfaction. 

 

Chanyeol grins, clapping while enjoying the short happy moment. Jongdae slides up to his right and promptly takes a seat on his lap despite his grunts of disapproval. There are best friend privileges he can’t revoke though, so he exhales and goes along the brash man’s whims.

 

Copies are passed around showcasing the itinerary of the day, illustrating in full detail the different areas that were to be inspected and covered by the end of the day and the teams appointed to each task.

 

No major changes have been made to the rough Monday layout Yifan had organized on the spot after the ICN’s representatives had demanded for an all-out ground inspection last minute—unsurprisingly, with heavy political overtones.

 

The majority of the SWAT agents have already stood up to group with their teammates, and Chanyeol pats Jongdae’s thigh to have the man begrudgingly stand up.

 

“We’re following the same lineup.” Yifan points towards him and Amber Liu. “Commandos Alpha and Delta, led by agents Park and Liu respectively, will cover the airlines highlighted in the itinerary. With the only difference that commando Alpha won’t be covering Air China anymore, as beta has already taken the liberty of adopting the extra work and are currently finishing their last aircraft inspection as we spea—”

 

 _Fuck you Ryeowook!_ No one really pays attention to Jongdae’s uproar.

 

Yifan’s eyes turn to slits his eyes for a mere second at the interruption of his unruly bomb specialist before he proceeds. “Quick reminder to both Alpha and Delta leaders: We proceed first with the inspections of the airlines’ main hangars and finish off with their aircrafts. Each inspection swift and precise please, no wasting time in anything other than detecting smuggling canals or unknown artifacts hidden within their facilities. Are we clear?”

 

“Yes sir!” Both leaders salute.

 

“Good.” Yifan mumbles something to his assistant that’s instantly scribbled in their journal. “Next, we have commandos Gamma and Omega, led by agents Choi and…

 

Chanyeol exchanges a few words with Amber, before he finally retreats towards his teammates waiting for him by the exit.  Something flutters restless at the pit of his stomach as they turn around and wave him over, but he disguises it with a watery smile that certainly doesn’t fool his intuitive friend.

 

No matter how long he’s been on the job, or the amount of times he’s been appointed as a commando leader for his quick thinking and gun expertise, he’s always found himself feeling agitated and deep down anxious of making a mistake on a dangerous mission and leading his team to failure—or possible death, his inner cloaked self whispers.

 

Chanyeol swallows thickly at the somber thought.

 

“Stop it with that face Yeol, it looks like you’re taking a huge dump while texting your nonexistent boyfriend. We’re gonna be just fine, okay? You’re the most qualified for this leadership, as shocking as that might be.” Jongdae grins, all saccharine with sharp edges, as he pats his shoulder. “Besides, you guys have me, what more can you ask for.”

 

Yixing scoffs before he bids his farewell and joins his own team, just as the rest of Chanyeol’s team engage in a friendly banter with their overly confident teammate.

 

“Hey, idiot with the bad perm.”

 

They all turn around to watch agent Lu Han standing a few meters away, holding the leash of his monster of a sniffer dog while his free hand raises a folded piece of paper up for the brunet to notice.

 

“What do you want Lu.” Jongdae hisses, still grieving over the fact that Ryeowook had snatched one of their assigned airlines just for an excuse to shamelessly flirt with his chinese flight attendant fiancé.

 

Han, totally unruffled by the bomb specialist’s beef with his commando leader, merely cocks an eyebrow before flickering the folded paper in the air. “I’m not your messenger Kim, but I promised Minseok to give you this as a favor I own him.”

 

Jongdae catches the paper mid-air. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

 

His face is twisted in grimace but the prospect of the message actually being from Minseok has the corner of his eyes twitching with excitement.

 

His hands are visually shaking in excitement as he hastily opens the tiny piece of paper. Slanted eyes widen significatively as he realizes the handwriting is one hundred percent Minseok’s, and forgetting for a brief second whatever grudge he’s been coveting for the detection specialist and his commando leader, Jongdae latches onto Han’s sleeved arm much to the latter’s discomfort.

 

“I know you hate me for that time I said your toes looked like claws when we were still recruits. It was uncalled for to…expose you like that, and I’m sorry for that.” Han curls his lip as he tries to rip his arm away, but Jongdae’s not letting up. “I promise to never ask anything out of you ever again! Please tell me what Minseok wrote! You know I’m not one to beg Lu, so don’t make me have to get on my knees here and—”

 

“Fine, fine! Just get your filthy paws off of me!”

 

The caramel blond male grumbles as he takes the paper back from the overly eager man, mumbling a few curses under his breath while Jongdae grins and claps in delight.

 

“Huh.” Han’s eyebrows knit, deep in thought for the length of a breath before they draw back with a loud guffaw. He cackles for a few more seconds before he slaps the paper against Jongdae’s chest. “You, Kim, are the ruler of the schmucks.”

 

“I already know that, idiot.” The brunet rolls his eyes impatient before glaring daggers at the chuckling man. “Now tell me what the hell this says Lu!”

 

“It says ‘Thank you for the flowers, but I’m still not letting you stick your sad little dick in my man hole.’” Han smiles saccharine, turning around and giving his imposing German Shepherd a fond pat as they both head out the door. “That’s a rough translation of course, but you get the basic idea. Laters, gentlemen.”

 

Chanyeol exhales slowly as the detection specialist disappears, eyes shifting sideways to question Jongdae’s sudden stillness. The rest of his teammates turn towards the silent brunet, ready to hold him back in case he decides to lunge forward and leave Han hairless, but to everyone’s surprise there’s no need for such extreme measures.

 

“Guys…” Jongdae’s voice wavers, and to the Alpha team’s disbelief, his hands hold the paper tightly to his chest while his eyes fire up with unrelenting determination. “I’m marrying Kim Minseok, mark my words. I promise on my late ancestors, descendants of _King Sejong_ The Great, I’m gonna wed the fuck out of that sexy man one day! You’re all officially invited to the Kim-Kim wedding, so start looking for tuxedos—navy blue guys, we hate that _sapphire_ shit. ”

 

“Uh..Dae?” Jackson scratches his head after minutes of deadpanned silence. “You do realize that Minseok literally just friendzoned you hard and killed all possibility of ever having you near his ass today—or ever.”

 

“My baobei is in denial, he’s cute like that. But hey!” The man glowers at the icy blond agent, pointing a finger accusingly. “Don’t you dare talk about my beautiful Chinese flower’s butt with your filthy mouth in my presence! Or any part for that matter—no, better yet, don’t even think about him! Don’t look at him! Xiumin is dead for you, okay?”

 

“Xiu.. Who?” The blond splutters, beyond confused at this point.

 

“Exactly.” Jongdae grins, whipping his safety glasses out as he gives the group a onceover. “Now, let’s get this party started losers!”

 

 _Kim Jongdae, don’t you dare start tap dancing on my last nerve…_ the unamused senior inspector chides from across the room as he spares the brunet a steely stare over his glasses— _the_ Wu Yifan stare. 

 

The idiot zips his wide mouth shut and makes an act of tossing the imaginary key over his shoulder, waving charmingly at the inspector before he turns around and exits the room, the rest of their team following suit.

 

Chanyeol sighs, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. Is it noon yet?

 

“Yeol! Come on! Get your flat ass moving already!”

 

_\---_

Two airlines, ICN’s _Traditional Culture Center_ and _Spa on Air_ later, Chanyeol’s pretty much ready to be done for the day.

 

His brown eyes, hidden behind tactical safety glasses are now hooded with fatigue. No matter how many cups of coffee or free treats he’s had the pleasure to indulge in throughout their visits to several different airport locations, his body screams for a break and his brain sizzles quietly as it slowly fries itself with exhaustion.

 

By the time they make it out of the airport’s spa, all members of the Alpha commando are one step away from dropping the towel and heading home. Chanyeol tries to keep his team motivated, buying them all maple doughnut holes and the nth coffee of the day as an afternoon reward.

 

With a chorus of tired _Thank you’_ s, they accept their leader’s spoiling, taking a quick breather in KNP’s break room, already cramped with other agents barely surviving the grueling day.

 

As the members drink their refined-sugary energy up, Chanyeol makes a quick run-through of their schedule so far, scrawling notes and comments around the evaluation charts on his small clipboard.

 

“Alright guys, so far we’ve managed to cover eighty percent of our schedule.” A sigh leaves his chapped lips, setting the clipboard down. “We just have Korea Air left and we’re done for the day and the inspection week overall.”

 

He takes the collective bemoan as a sign of relief, and with a brotherly pat at Taemin’s head currently buried in his crossed arms, he pops a doughnut hole in his mouth with a satisfied grin. It’s been a long day so far, but he’s quite proud of how much hard work his team has put through each inspection, and as a leader, he feels accomplished to be able to lead such talented and efficient group.

It’s been a long day so far, but he’s quite proud of how much hard work his team had put in each inspection, and as a leader, he feels accomplished to be able to lead such talented and efficient group.

 

Jongdae lazily scrolls through his Facebook feed before he slips the device back in his belt pocket.

 

“Hey Yeol.” The alpha leader takes a sip of his coffee and offers a curious glance at the brunet sitting across the table. “Isn’t your mysterious sweetheart part of the Korea Air’s cabin crew?

 

The entire table laughs as their gangly leader squeaks before he starts choking on his coffee. Chanyeol coughs and pounds a closed fist against his breastbone while glaring at Jongdae that simply blinks in faux innocence at the scene.

 

Wiping his mouth clean, Chanyeol hisses. “He’s not my mysterious sweetheart. I don’t _have_ a mysterious sweetheart Dae.”

 

“Sure, sure. Mysterious sweetheart, stranger babe; same difference. ” The cheeky man waves his hand dismissively. “But he works there, right?”

 

“Yeah. I guess? I don’t know. He’s probably based in Japan or China, I haven’t seen him since last Friday.” Chanyeol deflates. “Or ever for that matter. I’ve been here since four months ago and I’ve never seen him, not once. Am I crazy? Did I hallucinate the man?”

 

“Who are we talking about exactly?” Taemin mumbles, rubbing his sleepy eyes as he finally emerges from his power nap.

 

“Yeol’s current sweetheart.” The room answers in unison.

 

Chanyeol flushes and glares at the grinning faces around him. “Shut up! I don’t have a sweethea—Taemin, I do _not_ have a sweetheart!”

 

Taemin shifts his wide eyes sideways and away from his crazed leader, nervously shoving five doughnut holes inside his mouth all at once.

 

“Then how do you explain your wacky behavior the last few days, huh?” Johnny starts finger counting. “You interrogated basically every Korea Air employee, including Jongin’s demonic boyfriend which that alone proves how desperate you are to find this dude. Also, you’ve been randomly stalking the Korea Air’s private lounge, _and_ casually making your rounds coincide with their shift change, am I missing something else?”

 

“Trying to hack into the employees database to search all the Byun’s listed.” Kasper adds in unhelpfully.

 

“Okay, fine! _Fine!_ And I wasn’t even hacking! The list is available for all ICN employees!” Chanyeol huffs, but surrenders. “You’re right though, I’m probably… a little _too_ infatuated towards this man, but it’s nothing as demented as you guys may think. I’m just genuinely curious about him.”

 

“Him…or his ass?”

 

“Him _overall_ Dae, get your mind out of the gutter.” Chanyeol grumbles.

 

“Isn’t it convenient though?” Taemin snaps his fingers and smiles wide.“Today could be your lucky day, I mean, we’re gonna be doing inspections in all their facilities. We ought to find at least a clue of who this guy is!”

 

Checking his wristwatch, Chanyeol smiles at Taemin’s cute determination before he stands up and dumps the empty doughnut box into the trash.

 

Rest is over.

 

“Nah, it’s alright I don’t mind anymore Tae.” He stills for a second before he clears his throat, fixes his beret and slips his safety glasses back on. “Can’t lie and say I’m notdisappointed though. All my life I’ve been…somehow, putting things off? Thinking that fate will do all the work and I’d just have to wait for the things that I want to come along on their own.”

 

“Yeol…” Jongdae sighs.

 

“I—I don’t know, for the first time I felt like perusing something I was genuinely interested in, I promise it was just honest curiosity. But like always, I was too slow and dumb and let it get away.” Chanyeol laughs humorlessly. “What a schmuck, right.”

 

His teammates all offer their sympathy in the form of a smile or a firm shoulder squeeze. Jongdae holds his gaze for a second longer with an unreadable expression before he also smiles in defeat, nodding and slipping his hand on top of his.

 

“What’s yours, it’s already yours Yeol, out there waiting for the right time to find you. Have faith.” Then he grins. “If you’re still single by the time I marry Minseok, I promise as your best friend to find you the hottest piece of twink out there to be your date for the wedding.”

 

Chanyeol, despite the brunet’s ridiculous wedding delusion, appreciates the sentiment. “Right, thanks Dae.”

 

With that, the team prepares once more to finish their last inspection of the day. They decide to start right away with the main hangar, the biggest one, and finish off with the dozen aircrafts lined up and waiting inspection.

 

 _We’re ready alpha leader, follow through._ Adisembodied voice buzzes through his earpiece.

 

Chanyeol nods at his team. _Copy that, Romeo. We’re mobilizing._

 

There’s a virtual coin being tossed into the Universe, and Chanyeol makes a wish before he steps to the front and leads the way.

 

Just one more coin.

 

Just one more chance.

 

 

\---

 

 

Chanyeol checks himself in the mirror one more time.

 

His phone vibrates in his back pocket, making him jump out of his skin in surprise.

 

 _Get it together Park._ He rolls his eyes and fishes the device out.

 

 **From** Baekhyun Byun [11:46]:

_Hello Chanyeol! I might be running a little late! I’m so sorry! ><_

_Something came up and I had to replace a fellow captain and cover his flight to Osaka!_

A dimple hollows Chanyeol’s cheek as he smiles at the text, typing a quick reply back to the flustered man.

 

 **To** Baekhyun Byun[11:48]:

_It’s okay Baekhyun, don’t worry, I don’t mind! ^^_

_Have a safe flight! Text me when you land!_

**From** Baekhyun Byun[11:55]:

_I will! Gotta go now, bye bye!_

If anyone had told Chanyeol’s last week self he would be not only meeting, but actually having his first official date with the elusive guy he’d been trying to find with no luck whatsoever, well…

 

…Let’s just say that past Chanyeol probably would’ve not done anything—past Chanyeol is a little bit of a plain wuss—but he would’ve definitely thought of them as loose screws.

 

_Because, what are the odds, right?_

 

But lo and behold, as he had pretty much given up on the idea of ever meeting that beautiful stranger ever again, right on the last aircraft, of the last inspection of the day, he ran into Byun Baekhyun.

 

Byun Baekhyun, which he had so erroneously thought of as a flight attendant, when in reality the latter was one Korea Air’s most skillful pilots, with roughly 90 flight hours under his belt and multiple achievements.

 

Like an idiot, he had been running around in circles, asking again and again for a Korea Air flight attendant that could _possibly_ go by the name of ’Byun’—Chanyeol’s memory had suddenly taken a field trip that fateful Friday morning—when he should’ve been asking the whereabouts of _Captain_ Byun Baekhyun.

 

 _‘I won’t lie and say I didn’t have a slight idea of who you were looking for when you asked me the first time.’_ Kyungsoo, Jongin’s long-term boyfriend and surprisingly Baekhyun’s first officer, had confessed the next Monday after their disastrous second encounter. ‘ _But you were so adamant about this guy being a ‘flight attendant’ that I honestly thought you were looking for some other Byun than that idiot.’_

There are a lot of things Chanyeol wishes he could change: the way they met (searching around for smuggled dildos), the way they met, _again_ (having the man he’s genuinely interested in thinking he’d thought he was part of the relief staff all along) but, he’s happy with this second opportunity he’s been generously offered.

 

After his father’s death at the tender age of twelve, Chanyeol’s life has revolved around his sister and mom. Dreams of becoming a writer, a poet, a singer all gone with the wind in favor of following his late father’s steps as a police officer.

 

Called dull, plain, boring in his previous relationships, he used to being the one giving up in the relationships, and more than offended, he actually feels frustrated with himself and the hurtful truth.

 

He knows he’s dull, he’s plain, boring and dumb, used to following what’s right and not what feels right in his heart.

 

But for the first time in his life, he’s decided to allow himself the privilege of following something he truly desires within his heart. This time, he’s no longer going to wait for faith to move around its universal pieces and play his life at its will. Chanyeol won’t wait around to be pushed. He’s going to allow himself to be stupid and follow his heart, whether it’s the right decision or not.

 

He’s taking the leap this time.

 

His phone buzzes once more, this time with Jongdae’s name flashing on the screen.

 

“Hey, Dae.” He grins at Toben playing around, watching the pup run around the bedroom with a squeaky chicken trapped in his muzzle. “What’s up?”

 

 _‘How’s it going Yeol, nervous?’_ Chanyeol doesn’t need to be standing in front of the cheeky brunet; he can literally ‘hear’ the sleaziness dripping from his voice.

 

“It’s just a date Jongdae, it’s not like we’re getting married.” His heart skips a beat at the thought like a silly fool. “Plus, we’ve been seeing each other quite a bit for the past week at the airport, so it’s no big deal?”

 

 _‘Aww you cute giant, look at you!’_ Jongdae coos sweetly through the receiver. _‘Trying to calm yourself down. It’s okay Yeol, just be yourself okay?....pfft! Scratch that, be anything but that if you wanna survive this date.’_

_“_ Fucking asshole.” Chanyeol laughs, with enough ease camaraderie in his refute that it scrapes the barbs off—At the other side of the line, Jongdae chuckles.

 

 _‘Right back at you, idiot. But on a serious note, really,’_ Chanyeol’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline because, really, ‘Kim Jongdae’ and ‘serious’ were two terms no one ever has the necessity or the audacity to put together in any form of sentence or context. ‘ _Knowing you, you’re probably overthinking shit as we speak, so here I am, reminding you once again to stop thinking and just do and say what you wanna say.’_

“Thanks Dae, I promise I’ll be myself and have fun.”

 

 _‘You better…’_ The brunet grumbles.‘ _And if he turns out to be like one of those closeted dickheads you used to date, then tell papa Dae, okay? I’ll make sure to punch their dicks so far up that they’ll end up having a second bellybutton.’_

 

“ _Jesus_ fuck Dae, I’m hanging up now.” Chanyeol deadpans and bids the crazed man farewell.

 

Jongdae’s intentions are always in the right place, so he lets the gruesome threats towards his future prospect slide.

 

He turns around and stares at the pup laying lazily across his bed, sheets crumpled around the curly haired thief hogging all the space while casually munching on his delicious looking drumstick chew toy.

 

“How do I look Toben?” He spreads his arms wide open as he turns around in a full circle.

 

_Squeak! Squeak! Squeeeeeak!_

Toben blinks. Chanyeol nods.

 

“Yeah, you’re right. The plaid one looks better.” He turns around and changes shirts for the third time already.

 

Nerves start setting in as the hours drag ever so slowly. Chanyeol straightens out his bedding—despite Toben’s howls of disapproval—and checks the time once more.

 

It’s past four-thirty, according to his alarm clock, and as another minute ticks off, the jittery male adjusts the books on his desk and brushes his curly tuffs of chestnut hair off his forehead without success.

 

He’s doing a nasty job at biting on his chapped lips when his phone vibrates by the nightstand a quarter later, and with sweaty hands he unlocks the screen and sucks in a breath as the unread message pops up.

 

 **From** Baekhyun Byun[16:42]:

_I’m back in Incheon! I’ll meet you at the coffee shop!^^_

 

“Bye Toben, be a good boy, okay?” Chanyeol smiles and pats his playful puppy fondly before grabbing his wallet and keys.

 

The air outside is biting cold, but beneath the layers, Chanyeol’s burning in anticipation.

 

 

\---

 

 

Thirty minutes later, Chanyeol’s sitting comfily at the corner booth of the aforementioned coffee shop Baekhyun had suggested two days prior to ‘The Date’.

 

On edge, he visually jumps as an amused waitress magically sidles to his table, pen on notepad ready to take his order. Mirroring a flashy Christmas tree, he flushes all over, clears his throat and splutters what seems to be a ‘Hot Chocolate with marshmallows, please.’—that in reality really sounded more like ‘Htt-Choccltemarshmllws-plss’.

 

The young woman, bless her soul, doesn’t say anything else and with a court smile takes the menus back and saunters away. She places his order at the kitchen counter and doesn’t look back for two beats, until there’s a flicker of her eyes towards his table and yeah, that’s about right.

 

She definitely thinks he’s weird now. He’ll be forever known as the sweaty weirdo.

 

Chanyeol groans inwardly as he ruffles his messy locks.

 

 _So much for being yourself Park…_ He pouts, adjusting his black necktie and matching suspenders dejectedly before he slumps back against the seat.

 

Despite having settled down in Incheon for almost five months now, this is the first time Chanyeol’s ever visited the 80’s themed coffee shop. From the bright neon banners covering the walls along with the classic, decorative vinyl records, the pastel shades of pink and teal of their furniture, all the way to the waitresses and staff’s aprons with overflowing ruffles—it all screams vintage glamour.

 

To finish off the atmosphere, BØRN’s ‘Past Lives’ croons in the background with its electropop vibes booming through the speakers. Chanyeol smiles a little at the heartsome tune, thumbs twiddling nervously as his eyes glue themselves to the front door.

 

_…Swear to the moon, the stars, the sons and the daughters,_

_Our love is deeper than the oceans of water…_

The doorbell rings as a shivering figure swallowed by a ginormous red winter coat rushes into the toasty warm shop. Baekhyun puffs his cheeks as his dainty fingers pluck his beanie off, and a pair of eyes as rich as hickory roam around the room before they land on his own.

 

_...Save that heart for me,_

_And baby I'll give you everything you need (everything you need)…_

 

“I’m so, so sorry! God, I’m so late!” Baekhyun moans as he unceremoniously slides across de opposite booth, pink lips pursed in the cutest pout as he emerges from his winter cocoon.

“It’s fine, Baekhyun, don’t worry about it.” Chanyeol smiles, staring moon-eyed at the upset male still pouting away. “I don’t really mind waiting for you.”

 

And it’s true; he would gladly wait for as long as it takes, if it means that he’ll be rewarded by the image of that lovely pink flush blossoming in Baekhyun’s soft cheeks.

 

Right on cue, the waitress shows up with his hot chocolate, taking her time to offer the still blushing male a menu.

 

But it’s not necessary, as Baekhyun recites his order by heart with a wide, square smile adorning his face and stealing hearts. Very professionally, the woman jots down the ‘Venti Soy Quadruple Shot Latte with No Foam’ without batting an eyelash, a court smile curling over her lips as she disappears with the menu.

 

After a few silent breaths Baekhyun bites his lower lip before offering a shy smile. “You look…great. I feel really underdressed.”

 

“Oh. Thanks. But please, you look fine! Pfft, if anything, _I’m_ the one overdressing here.” Chanyeol laughs, thumbing his suspenders. “I’m not the most fashion conscious guy out there, so I always end up reading the signs all wrong.”

 

“Well, you read this one right.” Baekhyun shyly adverts his gaze downwards. The double meaning lingers in the air, and Chanyeol tucks it away in his pocket with the rest of Baekhyun’s smiles.

 

The conversation runs incredibly smooth after that, no silences left unfilled as either one of them is quick to jump in and offer the most random topics to babble on. And as the evening drags on and is soon no more coffee time but actual dinner, they find themselves ordering from the evening menu, not wanting to part just yet.

 

Talking to Baekhyun feels like talking to a good old friend you’ve been away from for far too long. It feels easy, good, like the soft, warm breeze announcing the arrival of summer after a never-ending winter.

 

In his 25 years, deep down, Chanyeol has always been blindingly waiting for a storm—a storm that’s been overdue, after living life for so long under a dull drizzle. And then comes Baekhyun, a tempest with violent gales and ship-slamming, monster waves.

 

He holds the ability to be the storm, the drizzle and the crepuscular rays that seep through its wringed clouds. He can be all of them at once or nothing at all. 

 

 _He can be anything,_ Chanyeol concedes, _as long as he stays around._

 

“I promise!” The pilot squirms in his seat, a grin hanging from his lips as he chews another bite off his meal. “It’s true!”

 

“I can’t believe you actually said that to your dad!” Chanyeol guffaws, tilting his head back as he holds his stomach. “I’m sorry, I just can’t picture you going through with that.”

 

With a sip of his lemonade, Baekhyun smiles and shrugs one shoulder. “It’s the true though. My dad always wanted me to follow his steps and join the military ranks, just like my brother, but I’ve never been one to follow the rules. So, the only rebellious thing I could think of after he forbade me for going to Canada to start my pilot training was barging into his bedroom at 4 am and jumping on his bed screaming _‘You better let me go to Toronto or I swear I’m gonna shove your toothbrush inside my gay asshole and you won’t know when!’_ and you know what? I was flying to Toronto three days later—business class.”

 

Chanyeol winces and shakes his head in sheer disbelief. “Geez, that’s tough. Remind me never to cross you.”

 

“I will.” Baekhyun winks cheekily, biting on his tuna sandwich.

 

“I actually envy you to be honest. After my father died while he was on a mission, it was just my older sister, my mom and I. Those women are both tough cookies, and there was never a reason for me to follow my dad’s steps, but I don’t know, it seemed right at the time, and after having suffered from that trauma, any idea of rebelling towards my mom flew right out the window. You could say my life became pretty boring after that.”

 

Something akin to sympathy etches across the smaller man’s face, and under the dim lights of the lamp hanging above their heads, Chanyeol is suddenly mesmerized by the stars collected in those sparkling eyes full of fun secrets.

 

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong in being a good son.” Baekhyun hums, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “I think that was the first and only time I ever spoke that way to my dad now that I think about it. It was probably the fact that becoming a pilot was the first thing I’ve ever truly desired with all my heart, and the idea of it slipping through my fingers because of the silly whims of my father made something snap inside me.”

 

“What does your dad think now that you’re so well established in your career.”

 

Baekhyun chuckles at the impromptu interview. “He’d rather be skinned alive than fly on one of my flights, that’s for sure. But, he’s long acknowledged me as an adult doing what he loves and succeeding at it. That’s all that matters, I guess.”

 

“That’s pretty great. I’m glad it went along well in the end. I can tell he must be proud.” Chanyeol chuckles, wiping his mouth clean. “My mother has always been against me becoming a knp-swat agent. I think after all these years following my father’s death, the wound is still closing, but it’s never gonna heal. I do understand her feelings, at least I try to, so I never try to push her into accepting my job. And my sister… Ah, Yoora thinks I’m just a tall moron, but that’s not really new.”

 

“Same with Baekbom.” Baekhyun rolls his eyes, twirling his straw with disdain as he grumbles, oblivious to Chanyeol’s sudden stillness. “He’s always on my case, telling me how much of an idiot I am for not joining the military like them. Whatever though, I don’t care what that dimwit has to say.” 

 

The paralyzed officer can only swallow the lump in his throat as he stares,slack-jawed at the male across the table. “D-did you say Baek _bom_? Byun _Baekbom_? Police Academy k9 trainer, and veteran sergeant, Byun Baekbom?”

 

Confused by the atmosphere shift, the raven-haired man nods slowly. “Um—yeah? If there’s no other k9 trainer with a one year old corgi named Mongryong then, yeah, I meant _that_ Baekbom, a.k.a, my idiotic brother.”

 

“Oh my god!” Chanyeol beams gleefully, eyes shinning with unconcealed excitement. “He trained Toben! Your brother was the one that trained Toben for 8 months back in Seoul!”

 

“What!? He trained Toben?” Baekhyun gapes for a second before he quickly pulls his phone out. “That man owes me answers now.”

 

The dull tone of a call connecting rings in Chanyeol’s ears, both men unconsciously leaning in towards the phone placed over the table.

 

The call connects, and they wait, breath held tight in their lungs.

 

 _‘This better be good Baek, I’m in the middle of something important right now.’_ Baekbom’s annoyed voice kills the suspense hanging in the silence, and no doubt, Toben’s trainer is indeed Baekhyun’s older brother—he could recognize that mischievous low-toned timbre anywhere.

 

Chanyeol feels a mixture of memories and emotions flooding his head all the while an unamused Baekhyun simply snorts at his brother’s greeting.

 

“Shut up, I know you’re just watching one of your weird rom-coms with Mongryong. Anyways, how come you never told me you knew Chanyeol!”

 

 _‘You watch them too! You little sh—wait, what?’_ Something crashes at the other side, like a body falling off a bed, and a few puppy barks and curses later the older man answers, this time a little breathless. ‘ _You said Chanyeol? Park Chanyeol? Why would I tell you about him if you don’t even know him, you moron! Hold on—you ‘know’ Chanyeol??’_

_“_ Hey Bom.” Chanyeol warmly greets the bewildered sounding trainer. “It’s been a while, how are you?”

 

 _‘Holy fucking cows! Yeol!’_ The man cackles loudly as his corgi pup yawps happily in the background. ‘ _It’s been ages since I’ve heard from you!—okay, not really, I literally saw you before you moved back to Incheon—But you never call me anymore, you overgrown bamboo! How’s Incheon treating you?How’s Toben?What the hell are you doing with my oaf of a brother?’_

“Hey!” Baekhyun yells. Chanyeol snickers at the cute, glowering male.

 

“It’s been all good Bom, sorry I haven’t called, I’m still settling down here. Incheon’s just as pretty as I remember, and Toben’s the same playful ball of fur he’s always been. And, um… I happened to meet Baekhyun by accident actually, at one of Toben’s chases gone wrong.”

 

 _‘Oh, wow, really?’_ There’s genuine surprise inBaekbom’s voice, laced with something akin to mischief, but the latter quickly covers it with his trademark booming laughter. ‘ _I’m sorry to hear about Toben’s bad luck strike; he was always my top student back at training camp. But, wouldn’t you say it didn’t go ‘that’ bad in the end?’_

Both men light up at the suggestive tilt in the older one’s voice.

 

“R-Right, of course.” Chanyeol coughs and takes a sip of his iced tea while Baekhyun makes a show of punching the phone mid-air. The coffee shop significatively becomeswarmer.

 

_‘I’m gonna want to hear that story some day though. Sounds likes there’s more to it than just Toben gone crazy.’_

 

“Oh, there _is_. There’s definitely more than that.” Baekhyun’s lips pull apart in a leering smile. “We could definitely win dating story of the year with this one: ‘Officer meets the love of his life while his sniffer dog goes on a scavenger hunt for dildos at Incheon’s National Airport’ A true ice breaker for awkward family reunions, right?”

 

Chanyeol blinks at the other, stiffening at a very specific word. But as he registers the look on Baekhyun’s face, he can’t help but feel the rush of blood heating up his face, and an old couple looks over their table in sincere worry as the tall officer drops his grilled vegetable Panini, splutters and gets dragged into an aggressive coughing fit.

 

_‘Sounds lovely.Lemme know when you tell pops about it. It’s always fun to see him burst another eye vessel.’_

 

“Okay loser, I’m hanging up now, cause the one that’s actually about to burst is Chanyeol right now. Talk to you later.”

 

His brain has barely begun to process the situation before he feels the gentle press of a napkin over his sauced lips. A myriad of emotions flash across the galaxies packed up in Baekhyun’s eyes, but the one that actually pulls Chanyeol out of his trance is the unmistakable fondness that stares back at him.

 

“I’m sorry, I have a problem with my mouth running faster than my mind most of the times. Hope I didn’t say anything that offended you.” He admits with honesty.

 

Chanyeol shakes his head quickly, grabbing his soft hand that’s still poised in the air, lips already wiped clean—and he’s a hundred percent sure half the tingles are not a result of static.“It’s fine, I was just caught off guard b-by ‘our could be d-dating story’ thing.”

 

“Ah.” Finally his embarrassment is shared as a lovely shade of baby pink blossoms on Baekhyun’s cheeks. His small hand slowly lowers, but Chanyeol doesn’t let go.

 

 _It ‘could’ be though._ He barely registers the wispy reply. But thankfully, he does.

 

Baekhyun’s teeth dig into his bottom lip softly while he focuses his attention on their joined hands.

 

Chanyeol can’t remember the last time he’s been this breathless, his heart pounding loudly in the shell of his ear. He squeezes the other one’s hands in gentle reassurance, and behind those rounded frames he can make out the uncertainty flickering in Baekhyun’s hazel eyes slowly disappearing.

 

“It could.” Chanyeol quietly murmurs with the hint of a smile tugging at the edge of his mouth.

 

Baekhyun squeezes his hand back.

 

 

\---

 

 

They don't realize it until Kyungsoo points it out.

 

They fall into an effortless routine the weeks following their official first date. Having lunch together, the quick coffee dates at the _Dunkin Donuts_ around Korea Air’s staff room, and secret Weekend park strolls with an overactive Goldendoodle.

 

It goes on for a whole month and if they aren't going out, they can't be anything else in the eyes of their closest friends and family.

 

So Kyungsoo takes one for the team (Jongin, Jongdae, the entire knp-swat department, Baekbom, Mr. Byun, the fruit lady that lives around the corner of his apartment complex—how Yoora and his mom even found out in the first place still baffles him until now…) and says it rather bluntly one day over lunch.

 

”Are you two finally dating or what?" Chanyeol blinks more than the usual number of times he does when surprised and Baekhyun raises an elegant eyebrow at his best friend’s annoying, forthright personality.

 

They ignore Kyungsoo’s death glares and shrug the entire thing off, until hours after, when they're at their unofficially reserved dinner table and eating _Kimbap_ and freshly made _Tteokbokki_ for the 4th time that week.

 

"So, are we going out? I mean, everybody says we are," Baekhyun asks, munching on a big piece of rice cake. “We’re together almost everyday and we do all the grosscoupley things out there better than anyone. We’ve had sex, you’ve sucked me off and I’ve already ridden you for an entire weekend and survived to tell the tale. Is there something else we’re missing here?”

 

“N-Not really.” Thank God he’s already become used to Baekhyun’s blunt comments by now—Thank you, Kim Jongdae—so he’s left slightly flustered, but alive overall, and after a hasty mental recovery he nods thoughtfully. “But you’re right, we’ve done everything coupley there is. I guess…we are then?”

 

Baekhyun contemplates, before he pokes his cheek playfully, leaving a saucy fingerprint painting his skin orange. “Hmm, we’ll see.”

 

Chanyeol pouts and doesn't give it much thought, the idea tucked at the back of his head.

 

Later that night, back in his small, one bedroom apartment, when he goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth before going to bed, he realizes that the spare toothbrush near the sink has been a constant in his life for a month now and in that moment he _finally_ understands why people bother with labels.

 

He gapes at his reflection, foam dribbling from his lips. _Shit!_

 

 

\---

 

 

_// Good afternoon passengers._

_This is the pre-boarding announcement for Korea Air flight 614E to Singapore. We are now inviting all passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready—Also, we would like to rely a message to Agent Park Chanyeol froman anonymous sender:_

_“Yeol, you’re an idiot. We ‘are’ dating.”_

_Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes time. Thank you.//_

 

\---

 

 

Dating Byun Baekhyun proves to be the hardest solo mission Chanyeol’s ever participated in.

 

In the last couple of months, his life has completely done a one eighty. The changes are not visually drastic; he’s still the same ol’ guy with the funny curly hair and jug ears, he still has troubles going through low thresholds, he still spoils Toben rotten, he still works really stressful shifts and has to put up with Jongdae’s mood swings against his will—the difference is that, now Chanyeol has something to look up to every morning.

 

Despite their disastrous first meeting, first _second_ meeting, first date— _first kiss_ , he groans at the memory of eager teeth bumping teeth; _first time making love_ , he moans pitifully at the memory of that loud sneeze seconds away from their orgasm—yeah, despite all that tragedy, they have managed to make it work out.

 

Every day is a new adventure, there’s always something new and exciting to learn from each other, and like that, their days pass by and melt together, carrying them deeper into a serious relationship.

 

And for once, Chanyeol feels he can have something he truly wants in his life, and give himself the luxury to be greedy and keep the human-sized star all for his own.

 

“Really? So you all have like codenames and stuff?” Baekhyun lifts an eyebrow as his fingers run through Chanyeol’s unruly hair, trying to will his boyfriend’s curly mop to behave after a long day of running around the train terminal following a suspect.

 

“Something like that, yes.” Yifan furrows his bushy eyebrows, mixing the 4th and final spoonful of sugar into his milk tea. “It’s not as intense as you may think though. Most of the time, agents prefer to be called by their given names.”

 

“Yeah baby, it really depends on the mission and its level of danger.” Chanyeol supplies as he holds Baekhyun’s caressing hand and lays a soft kiss on his pulse as a _thank you_. The latter smiles at the gesture and places the taller one’s maroon beret back on, with a final smooch on his dimpled cheek.

 

“But it _is_ mandatory for all agents to adopt one.” Yixing clarifies and the rest of the agents in the break room nod in agreement.

 

“What’s _your_ codename?” The smiling pilot stares at his boyfriend as said man circles his arms around his waist and accommodates his body closer to his heat. “Is it something really lame like Yeollie, or Channie?”

 

Chanyeol bursts in laughter, stealing a kiss from Baekhyun’s chuckling mouth. “Hardly. My codename is Loey—basically Yeol spelled backwards. It’s easy to remember and I don’t have to worry about making a mistake during dangerous operations.”

 

“Then there’s Kris, Lay, Kai, and so on.” The tall, brown haired male discloses, pointing towards each mentioned officer. “Even Joonmyun has a codename—Suho. All officers and legal partners are meant to have one.” 

 

“You all sound like power rangers.”

 

The room laughs at the keen observation. Surprisingly, it’s not the first time they’ve heard it.

 

“Sounds about right. In that case, you can be the Kimberly to my Jason.” Chanyeol wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. “We can get matching Halloween costumes, baby. I’ll make sure to familiarize you with my _Power Sword._ ”

 

Baekhyun snorts, flickering his dumb boyfriend in the forehead. “You better not, or I’m gonna make sure you become Adam instead of Jason.”

 

“Adam?” He frowns, confused. “Which Ranger was Adam?”

 

“Exactly my point.”

 

_‘Phew! What a day, boys! I could literally blow up right now—get it? Blow up, like a bo—’_

A collective groan travels through the room at the sound of their lovely bomb expert just around the corner.

 

Baekhyun, from his position in Chanyeol’s lap, comically deadpans as the agent rolls his eyes at his best friend’s antics.

_‘For the love of God, zip it Kim! There’s so much of you I can take at once, and I’ve already exceeded with flying colors my Kim Jongdae quota of the day!’_

_‘Geez, don’t get your knickers in a twist Choi… Talk about being on anal mode 24/7, damn…’_

 

Jongdae barges into the room, all smiles and half-moon eyes, face caked in a mixture of sweat and dirt as the towering agents, Choi Minho and Shim Changmin, tiredly trail behind the insufferable man. 

 

All three men halt at the sight of the break room packed full—quite the feature given its a Wednesday.

 

“Whoa! We got a full house!” Jongdae claps gleefully as he runs to the snack area, eager to stuff himself full of the free, sugary treats despite everyone’s cries of protest at the sight of the latter’s crummy appearance.

 

Joonmyun, the afternoon snack sponsor, is quick to slap his dirty hands away, pointing wordlessly towards the faucet with a soft frown etched across his face. Yifan snickers behind his cup at the sight of his husband’s parenting instincts, all the while the chastised male pouts but obeys.

 

“I take it the inspection went well?” Jongin questions with mild curiosity.

 

“Yup! It was a false lead, but still got us breaking into a sweat, right guys?” Two grunts follow in response from across the room.

 

“Did you find anything interesting at least?”

 

Jongdae nods, cheeks bloated with the chocolate muffin he devoured whole after Joonmyun gave him a full onceover and a nod of approval. He pats around the front pockets of his bullet vest before he plucks out a small, black object out of his breast pocket.

 

A small, black object that ticks every second.

 

_Tick_

_Tick_

_Tick_

_…click!_

“Fucking hell Jongdae! You brought an active _bomb_ here!?”

 

Ironically, the only two men that do not fall into full panic mode are the ones that have no basic training whatsoever in anything remotely military.

 

Joonmyun, half amused and half offended by everyone’s reaction, whacks his husband in the head as said man hides in all his 6’2 glory behind his tiny life partner out of instinct.

 

Chanyeol had jumped the second he heard the ticking, bedding Baekhyun over his shoulder so fast, that by the time the young pilot blinked they were already halfway out the door.

 

“What the hell Yeol! Put me down!” Baekhyun tugs one of his giant’s ears, making the tall man whine pitifully, letting his feisty boyfriend slide down his long torso.

 

By now, they are the only people crazy enough to stay inside the break room with a potentially life-threatening bomb in it, and several heads poke in from the outside ever so slowly, eyeing the still ticking device warily.

 

Jongdae, completely puzzled by his colleagues’ reaction, waves his feet back and forth from his position on top of the kitchenette counter, licking his thumb clean in utter innocence before he frowns.  

 

“What are y’all talking about? This is no bomb—”

 

The agents cry as the brunet carelessly grabs the artifact with his chocolaty hands. He turns it around, and the ‘valiant’ men shriek much to the airline employees’ dismay.

 

“Oh, for the love of God!” Baekhyun slaps Chanyeol’s hands off his waist, twisting out of the man’s protective grip as he stalks towards the device, grabs a nearby pot and makes a show of brutally smashing the suspected bomb into pieces.

 

Jongdae whines. Chanyeol squeaks. Yifan blanches.

 

_My alarm clock!_

 

_My boyfriend!_

_My husband!_

_My life!_ Several heads turn towards Jackson, judging the blond silently. _What! I’m sad and single, fuck off…_

 

“There, done.” Baekhyun huffs. He brushes the destroyed remains off the counter and to the garbage can.

 

“Was it necessary to go all cave man on that, Byun.” Joonmyun rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest in disapproval. “You could’ve, I don’t know, turned it off?”

 

“Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve. Useless semantics.” The raven-haired pilot waves dismissively as he calmly goes back to his shaking boyfriend, squeezing his cheeks as his places soft, comforting kisses in his puckered lips.

 

“Jesus Baek, that was a present from my cousin!”

 

Yifan clears his throat loud enough to draw the room’s attention towards him, stepping out of his Joonmyun-shield. “Alright Kim, better start explaining what the hell you were thinking bringing that _thing_ inside our break room.”

 

Feeling all judging eyes on him, the wrongfully accused male gapes in complete outrage. “It’s not my fault y’all jumped into your own conclusions! I was trying to pull _this_ out in the first place!”

 

A Ziploc bag appears, and to everyone’s disbelief, it contains a small, half burnt motherboard with a few clumps of raw clay smeared on the sides. The brunet tucks the evidence back into his breast pocket, still miffed by the unfair indictment.

 

“I had to crawl under a bunch of old, shit-smelling dollies to get that by the way.” Then he quickly amends. “Okay, _maybe_ Choi and Shim did most of the crawling, but I helped too! A whole lot!”

 

Yifan runs a palm across his face in frustration as Joonmyun rubs his shoulder fondly. “Just tell me _why_ then, would you bring your alarm clock to work Jongdae, honest to God.”

 

“I—I didn’t get much sleep yesterday. I was hoping to grab a few minutes of power nap after lunch, and my phone’s alarm sucks. That’s it.”

 

Chanyeol narrows his eyes at the sight of that nervous twitch in his best friend’s left eye. Kim Jongdae is definitely hiding something, and he will definitely find out. Later.

 

The rest of his colleagues all accost the brunet afterwards. Yifan finds himself lying down on the break room’s couch, with a chuckling Joonmyun fanning cool air over his tired husband’s face. 

 

“What a mess.” Baekhyun sighs, checking his wristwatch. “You’re lucky I love you, otherwise I would definitely skin you alive if you ever pull something like that. Anyways, gotta run now, talk to you later!”

 

He tiptoes and places a quick peck on his chapped lips. Chanyeol, stupefied, stares at his boyfriend while he grabs his double-breasted navy blue blazer and matching peaked cap.

 

“H-Hey.” Chanyeol calls out, and amidst the chaos around the room and Jongdae’s loud whines, Baekhyun turns around from the other side of the room after placing his cap on.

 

He looks every bit as breath taking as the first time Chanyeol laid eyes on him six months ago. His lungs soon burn, and there’s that strange feeling again, one he only gets whenever he’s orbiting inside Baekhyun’s galaxy—the weird sensation of feeling full and breathless all at once.

 

Chanyeol swallows, his eyes bright and watery under the fluorescent lights. “I—I love you, too.”

 

There's something akin to a realization lighting Baekhyun’s features—he finally realized—and the next thing Chanyeol knows, Baekhyun’s tipping his cap with a blinding smile splitting his face and his eyes suspiciously moist, before he turns around and walks out the room. 

 

Chanyeol just laughs at the sight of those ears burning red.

 

“E-Excuse me…” A soft, unknown voice breaks through the air, and the entire room stills and stares at the fumbling man standing under the threshold.

 

“Erm…You left this at my house yesterday Dae…I thought you might want it back.” Kim Minseok glowers as he power walks inside the room, leaves a paper bag with a long sleeve poking out on the table, before he bows and runs right out.

 

The silence that follows through can be easily sliced with a knife.

 

“Shut it you horny hyenas! It’s not what you think!”

 

 Jongdae can’t hide his smile despite the room bursting with a series of hoots and cat-calls.

 

 

\---

 

 

Chanyeol has always thought of himself as a man with a high level of patience and well-placed principles. He has never been one to make brash decisions, or let his instincts rein over his mind.

 

He had been well aware that being apart from Baekhyun for a whole month would be pure torture to his heart. The idea of having to leave his boyfriend right in the middle of one of the most crucial moments of their lives keeping him awake for nights on end.

 

Exactly two days before the official moving day to their new apartment, he was called to Seoul’s headquarters and given the task to provide back up on a mission in Somalia.

 

Without having a say in the matter, he had to leave his boyfriend, their new apartment, and their new chapter of their life together on hold with a heavy heart.

 

 _‘It’s okay baby, it’s your job.’_ Baekhyun had murmured in comfort a day before his departure, hand rubbing slow circles across his naked chest. _‘You’ll be back soon. And I’ll be waiting for you in our home.’_

 

Day and night, he had longed to run his fingers across the glimpses of flesh between that white material of his uniform shirt and those elegant, form-fitting slacks. All he could think about in those small spaces of time between work, was his fingers running through that luscious, coal black hair.

 

In his midnight fantasies, he would be brushing the back of Baekhyun’s neck as they panted against each other, moving in a rhythm that no crashing waves could ever compare.

 

With the promise of a lover waiting for him back him, Chanyeol kept his forlorn desires locked down during those grueling days to come.

 

 _It will pay off, all this sacrifice._ He would repeat over and over again every time he felt like giving up and taking the first plane back to Seoul.

 

And through sacrifice, he pushed through and survived.

 

He made it back home and now is finally pay off as he pins Baekhyun to the wall, eager hands skating across his back and moving around to his chest to pull off the purple hoodie over his head and expose the delicious skin of the angel in front of him.

 

“Yeol.” Baekhyun moans as his back arches against the bare, white wall at the sudden hit of cool air.

 

Neither of them really cares at this point that the kettle is wildly whistling on the kitchen, or that Toben is running around the first floor, oblivious to his parents’ racy reunion.

 

Because Baekhyun’s mouth is currently attached to his throat and subsequently sucks on the soft skin hard enough to leave a mark, hands reaching around to grip everywhere he can firmly, pulling him infinitely closer.

 

Chanyeol surrenders and moans low in his throat, the vibrations running between their heated bodies. Baekhyun’s mouth hovers over his rapidly increasing pulse, and he nips Chanyeol’s skin hard, establishing dominance even though he’s the one being crushed against the wall.

 

They break apart momentarily, just to tug the Chanyeol’s t-shirt over his head, before pressing together again.

 

His plush lips met Baekhyun’s, possessive and greedy, drinking every gasp and every moan out of his pleading mouth.

 

“Yeol—Ah! Wait,” The smaller male pulls back with a gasp and breathes fast, chest heaving as he stares up with eyes blown wide, hooded with lust.

 

“Hmm, what,” His mind incoherently registers the other one’s words, hands roaming and groping all the places he had promised he would mark days ago.

 

Baekhyun moans brokenly at a particularly hard squeeze, grabbing Chanyeol’s large hand and pushing it off his asscheek.

 

Despite the obscene lust clouding his gaze, he still laughs breathlessly at the sight of Chanyeol staring back at him with the most aghast expression crossing over his sweaty face, appalled at being denied the paradise of his body.

 

“I have a surprise for you.”

 

Baekhyun’s hands take a firm hold of his waistband as he slips sideways and out of the cage of his arms.

 

Dumbfounded, Chanyeol follows the playful vixen into their bedroom, groping here and there despite the latter’s half-hearteddisapproval.

 

With a push, he falls back against the bed, staring at the high ceiling for a fleeting moment before Baekhyun’s face covers his line of vision.

 

Their mouths meet halfway in a mess of tongues and touched out breathes.

 

His naked chest presses once more against Chanyeol’s bare skin as his dainty fingers start fiddling with the string of his joggers. Baekhyun moans into his mouth, sending shivers down his spine at the feeling of those big, warm hands fondling his behind.

 

Chanyeol hears the faint echo of metal against metal, and its only after his boyfriend draws back from their lip lock with a playful suck on his swollen bottom lip, that he realizes what’s the ‘surprise’ the latter was so adamant to show him.

 

“Baek…did you just—handcuff me to the bedpost?”

 

“Surprise.” Baekhyun murmurs, placing another sensual kiss against his lips. “I found them while I was unpacking, and thought it would be a good prop to make this reunion special.”

 

Chanyeol looks up, and indeed, there’s a pair of hard steel handcuffs keeping his wrists pressed against the cold metal bar of their new bedframe. A _ruined_ pair of handcuffs he remembers putting away in hope of getting them fix one day—three years ago.

 

At his lack of reaction, Baekhyun leans back and fully seats on his rapidly softening dick, a mixture of embarrassment and uncertainty blooming over his features.

 

“You don’t like it?” He bites his lip, now playing with the string of his sweatpants like a chastised child, fullof innocence. “I—I’m sorry, I thought you might like it—Ash, I’m so stupid.”

 

“Hey, baby, I promise I like it, really.” Unconsciously, his hands move to embrace the self-conscious man closer, but the metal digs into the skin of his wrist. He sighs, defeated.

 

“Really, really?” Chanyeol dies at the sight of that beautiful pout.

 

“Really, really.” He chuckles, head lifting to meet Baekhyun’s offered lips once more.

 

“We can try this another time then, I can see this big boy here has gone to sleep for the time being.” His hips grind down in emphasis, making the male underneath groan at the friction.

 

The fun dies too soon, as Baekhyun spends the next minutes rummaging through boxes and boxes of their belongings, with no luck whatsoever in finding the damned key.

 

“Yeol.” He suddenly stills his search from across the floor, cocking his head to the side as his long limbed boyfriend stares at the ceiling in serene silence.

 

“There _is_ a key, right?”

 

Chanyeol smiles apologetic, scooting back to get comfortable against the pillows. “Right. About that…”

 

 

 

(They spend their long awaited reunion eating fried Sushi and watching _Love, Rosie_ while they wait for Jongdae to show up with his cutting tools.)

 

 

\---

 

 

Chanyeol unceremoniously flops onto the bed with a lazy groan.

 

Like always, Friday had been long, and particularly tiring, having to finish his work faster than usual to clock out early in order to run a couple of errands around Incheon’s shopping district.

 

Baekhyun’s been gone for four days now in one of his long hauls, and there isn’t anything he would love more than for Baekhyun to come home right about now, full of smiles, and kisses, and cuddles—and more importantly, full of his cute bubbly butt.

 

Their one-year anniversary is right around the corner, and the thought has Chanyeol’s cheeks pulling into a big, lazy smile as his eyes fall shut.

 

The memory of a drunken conversation he once had with Baekhyun’s brother suddenly resurfaces, and for a moment, he wonders if he has been part of a bigger scheme all along.

 

_‘Aren’t you interested Yeol? Honestly?’_

_‘Nope.’ Chanyeol grins sloppily, not sparing the waitress and her obvious flirting a second glance._

_Baekbom officially gives up on that moment, taking a big gulp of his tap beer as he watches the dejected girl pout before retreating to the back of the bar. He’d lost count on how many times random strangers had come up to their table—on multiple days, and on multiple occasions—only to be either turned down or full out ignored by the young agent._

_‘Tell me the truth Yeol, are you seeing someone else? Or maybe, you already got your mind on someone?’_

_Chanyeol shakes his head widely, messy curls bouncing around, and giggles. ‘Nope, I’m a solo ranger right now! I don’t care about love. Love is overrated!’_

_Baekbom chuckles and rolls his eyes at the cute drunk, ruffling his messy locks in affection. ‘Love can be nice if you let it be nice to you. There’s nothing wrong with it.’_

_‘You’re right. There’s nothing wrong with that…’ Chanyeol’s smile suddenly falls, and a soft sigh slips past his glistening lips. ‘I do like the idea that someone, somewhere is made for me, forever. But at the same time, I don’t believe in faith, or waiting blindly for love to come knocking at my door. I’m fine with how things are, with how I am. Playing it safe…is it such a bad thing?’_

 

The memory fades, and Chanyeol’s back in the present, swallowed and stuffed full with overwhelming emotions he never thought he’d ever feel in his life.

 

Love is a funny little thing.

 

It starts slow and small, like all the important things do. Fleeting stares across rooms, hushed snickers between seas of faceless strangers and blind hands seeking for something to hold onto in the dark—these frail nothings that mean everything on the long run.

 

Chanyeol had erroneously thought in the past he’s had already experienced everything love had to offer. So why bother, why want, why try one more time?

 

Now Baekhyun smiles at him and Chanyeol smiles back, bigger and wider, because for the first time in his life he’s come to realize what love truly is about.

 

_Such a frail, little thing._

 

Toben barks as a set of footsteps can be heard from the outside through the deafening silence of their apartment.

 

Chanyeol grins at his hyperactive accomplice, places a finger over his lips and quickly hides the small velvety box under his underwear drawer.

 

 

\---

Of course Chanyeol would. Of _fucking_ course.

 

_Kill me. Fucking kill me and donate my body to science so future generations can have a full body example of what an idiot looks like._

 

After turning the entire bedroom upside down, he sits on the floor and quietly lets his sanity slip through his pores.

 

This wasn’t supposed to happen today—not _Today_.

 

For once, he had planned every little detail—the flowers, the music, the food. He had wanted to give Baekhyun a small taste of perfection.

 

Just this time, Chanyeol had wanted to be the one perfectioning a first, without having his long-term boyfriend fixing his failures with sweet mendings of his own.

 

But alas, it was clearly not meant to be.

 

Chanyeol had meticulously prepared every-single-detail for a month, and he had everything ready—every detail _but_ one:

 

The fucking engagement ring currently missing.

 

"Fuck," He cries into the cuff of his sleeve. "Fuck."

 

 

\---

 

 

The ride through the Incheon Bridge is silent. 

 

Jongdae, thankful of his best friend giving him a ride in the current situation, tries to ask questions, attempting to trigger Chanyeol’s memory into finally remembering where he had stuffed the godforsaken jewelry, but the only thing Chanyeol seems to respond with is, ‘I can’t believe I lost the ring. I bought that shit two months ago…’

 

Jongdae rolls his eyes. Chanyeol can be a lot of things— _things_ only he, and Baekhyun, are allowed to call him—but careless isn’t one of them. He's just a little slow, after all, but he eventually finds an answer to virtually any problem laid before him.

 

Thus he doesn’t think, he _knows_ , that ring is not lost…just, wrongly misplaced… somewhere…

 

“It’s not lost Yeol, stop beating yourself up about it.” He glances over at Chanyeol who has his body sagging against the car door as he waits for the traffic light to turn green. “Have you checked Toben’s poop?”

 

Chanyeol chooses not to reply at all in favor of keeping his sanity.

 

 

\---

 

 

He misses his golden chance once Baekhyun goes back to his long international hauls.

 

The weekend after the disaster, they celebrate their one-year anniversary with champagne, caviar, live music and a five-course meal, all enjoyed in a romantic, intimate soirée under a starry sky at the beach house Chanyeol had reserved weeks beforehand.

 

(Chanyeol felt like crying as Baekhyun squealed and fanned over every single detail oh so perfectly thought of.

 

He actually sobbed as the latter ate his chocolate soufflé without questioning the hollowness inside of it. The hired violinist solemnly played Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major throughout dessert.)

 

Weeks slip by, and Chanyeol starts feeling exactly like a bottle of pop soda or mineral water, shaken roughly, up and down, over and over again, and it's only a matter of time before his lid pops.

 

Now that he thinks about it, he’s probably more like one of those defective bombs Jongdae likes to play around for fun.

 

 

\---

 

 

_‘Good Morning, may I speak with Mr. Park?’_

_‘Yes, this is he. Who am I speaking to?’_

_‘Ah, good morning Mr. Park, this is Dr. Kwon from Heaven Paws Veterinary. We’re calling in regards to the results of Toben’s recent abdominal X-Ray.’_

_‘Ah, yes! Great, so, his X-Ray’s are…?’_

_‘Completely normal. His stool sample also turned out exceptionally clean, and…’_

 

 

\---

A few more days pass, everything is seemingly normal, filled with more long working schedules, more Weekend park strolls, more impromptus dates, and Chanyeol is beginning to think that things are moving on, that everything is going to fall back into place.

 

He’s pretty much given up at this point to the idea of ever finding the ring.

 

And then he snaps; he breaks; the timer buzzes and Chanyeol explodes.

_\---_

 

 

“Yes, Toben!! Yes, yes, yes!”

 

He admits, he had thought of finding the ring in other, um—better—circumstances.

 

He had already deluded himself into fantasizing that, the moment he ever found the elusive ring, it would have been be hiding in Baekhyun’s suitcase all along, and he would be rushing through the ICN’s terminal trying to find his beautiful boyfriend and stop him from running off, only to drop down on one knee and ask the other one to share his forever with him,in front of thousand creepy strangers cheering on them for unknown reasons—Chanyeol’s fantasy usually morphs at that point, the strangers turn into their family and friends, and the terminal is actually a meadow full of flowers, but the idea is basically the same.

 

One thing his relationship with Baekhyun has taught him is that you got to live everyday to the fullest, and embrace every blessing, no matter how small or insignificant.

 

So he embraces this blessing, and embraces this moment right now, in which he cackles maniacally as he lifts the dirty velvety box in the air, thanking Baekbom for training his pup to be a golden sniffer—and that really lame, late night mystery show he had been just watching for the brilliant idea.

 

Toben runs around in circles, barking happily as his dirt-covered muzzle continues to look around the backyard of their apartment complex for more hidden treasures.

 

“Chanyeol?”

 

Breaking from his mental breakdown, said man whips his head around to stare at the small figure walking out the backdoor.

 

Baekhyun wraps his dark night robe closer to himself, and once his wary eyes land on his boyfriend, the surprise in his eyes can probably be seen all the way from space. Along with his fury, as there was nothing more annoying or infuriating for Baekhyun, than to miss precious beauty sleep over petty things.

 

“Wha—Fucking shit, Park Chanyeol, get back here right _now_!” He hisses, stomping his feet as he steps fully into the poorly illuminated backyard.

 

Chanyeol, swallowing thickly, rises to his feet while Toben continues to jump around, finally giving up on his 1 am scavenger hunt to look around for lizards.

 

“What do you think you’re doing!? It’s 1 am Yeol, and I have a flight to London later today! You’re all covered in dirt! A-And why are you fucking _naked!_ ”

 

He _really_ admits to himself that this was not the way he had pictured this entire scenario to play out, but what _ever_ plays out the way it normally should in his life?

 

 _Touché_ , inner cloaked Chanyeol concedes.

 

“Baek—I’m sorry, Iknow you deserve better, and this is really not how I thought this would turn out or how I had planned it the first time. But with you, I can never take my chances. I did that once, and almost lost the possibility of ever meeting you again. I can’t do the same mistake twice.”

 

Chanyeol, face full of dirt and dressed in his ratty One Piece boxers, once more falls to the floor at the feet of Byun Baekhyun, this time, only on one knee.

 

“Yeol, oh my god, wha-”

 

“Baek, You…you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You deserve the very best, someone who will back you up without limits, let you fly without borders, and love you without end. If—If you allow me, I will make it my life mission to give you back every ounce of happiness and love you’ve given me in this small universe we’ve created on our own. Will you, Byun Baekhyun, give this poor schmuck the privilege of marrying you?”

 

Uncertainty and forlorn hope settle in the slope of Chanyeol’s dirty, furrowed brow, as he stares up into Baekhyun’s unreadable eyes.

 

The throbbing in his knee from the stones and grass digging into his skin is but a mere dull ache against the incessant slamming of his heart racing between his shriveling lungs.

 

It hurts, wanting something so badly and so intensely. And God only knows how much he wants Baekhyun.

 

He wants to raise Toben with him, and spoil the cheeky dog together until the three of them are so old that they end up spoiling each other in rounds.

 

He wants to watch cheesy, rom-coms that only Baekhyun secretly likes, and to suffer through them because he enjoys having the latter cry against his chest. He wants to settle in the soft curve of his neck and fall asleep to the soft murmur of Baekhyun’s hoarse voice as he reads to himself.

 

He wants Baekhyun’s burnt pancakes. He wants the broken version of his name cried out of his boyfriend’s swollen lips at the crack of dawn. He wants to waste time with him pretending to see galaxies in the night sky, when in reality they can only see random dots.

 

He wants—he _needs_ a lifetime full of Baekhyun.

 

Chanyeol swallows the heavy lump in his throat, and his hands falter soon enough at the lack of response from his boyfriend.

 

“…Baek?”

 

At last the latter snaps out of his daze, blinking as if he finally notices how long he’s been spacing out in the worst moment to be spacing out on.

 

He acknowledges the longing burning in Chanyeol’s blurry eyes under the patio lamps and his heart clenches tight before he also falls to his knees.

 

“I think I never told you this,” His soft voice soothes Chanyeol’s doubts. His smile, always gentle and loving, drips love like milk and honey over the uncertainty in the form of cracks rapidly forming on the taller one’s heart.

 

A sigh escapes Chanyeol’s lips at the feeling of those fingers smoothing gently the wrinkle between his eyebrows before they card dotingly through the mop of chocolate curls. Like a caress, he slides his delicate hand to the side of his face and ends the tender journey cupping his dusty cheek. “I already knew I wanted to marry you the moment you blushed at the idea of me carrying a dildo in my carry-on the day we met. So yes, Park Chanyeol, I will marry you.”

 

Tears run down his face, the curve on Baekhyun’s lips making everything right, and half laughing, half sobbing, he nods and opens the ruined box to pull out the still intact ring stealing light.

 

A shaking hand takes a hold of an equally shaky one, and in the span of a breath, the ring slips through a long, slender finger. It’s a perfect fit.

 

Toben suddenly howls, and minutes later a couple of windows open, and their disgruntled neighbors stare at the scene with unconcealed annoyance at being woken up at 2:15 on a Friday morning.

 

 _‘Congratulations!’_ The disembodied voice of one of their neighbors pierces through the silence. _‘Now get a fucking room!’_

 

“We will!” Chanyeol beams and waves amiably at the dark figure doing a peace sign from the top floor.

 

Baekhyun makes a face at Chanyeol, slapping his naked chest, and all the latter can do is laughbecause he’s truly, madly, deeply—stupidly—in love.


End file.
